Schlossruine Teplitz

1824–1826

Depression and darker motifs

A new bout of depression — earlier ones came in 1799, 1803–1805, around 1813 and in 1816 — brings vultures, owls, graveyards and ruins into his work. From 1826 these motifs become a permanent feature of his output, and his colours grow darker and more muted.

1825–1840

The fading of his fame

Over the last fifteen years of his life Friedrich’s reputation steadily declines: as the ideals of early Romanticism go out of fashion he comes to be seen as an eccentric and melancholy figure out of touch with the times, and his patrons gradually fall away. Towards the end he lives in relative poverty and spends long periods, often beginning before sunrise, walking alone through woods and fields.

1830

Aphorisms on art

Friedrich sets down a collection of aphorisms on aesthetics, the sum of his written commentary on art. The artist, he holds, must match natural observation with scrutiny of his own personality: close the bodily eye in order to see the picture first with the spiritual eye, and then bring to the light of day what was seen in the darkness.