Johan Christian DahlNorwegian, 1788–1857Two Men before a Waterfall at Sunset
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Two Men before a Waterfall at Sunset” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 807, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked October 12, 2026.
New York, United States
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Two Men Before a Waterfall at Sunset is an 1823 landscape painting by the Norwegian artist Johan Christian Dahl It depicts Dahl and his friend and contemporary Caspar David Friedrich standing in a landscape inspired by his native Norway. It pays home to Friedrich's 1819 work Two Men Contemplating the Moon. The Norwegian Dahl settled in Dresden and worked there for most of his career, but continued to drawn inspiration from his homeland.
The painting is today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been received as a gift from Christen Sveaas in 2019.
Details
- Accession number
- 2019.167.3
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Johan Christian Dahl
The whole lifeFebruary 1821
Rome: museums, acquaintances and landscapes for sale
In February 1821 Dahl goes to Rome, spending much time in museums, meeting other artists and painting pictures to sell, among them landscapes inspired by the mountains of Norway. He said that only in Rome did he truly come to appreciate Norwegian nature.
June 1821
Returns from Italy to his wife
In June 1821 Dahl returns north to Emilie and a quiet life of family and painting, and soon becomes part of Dresden's leading circles of poets, artists and scientists.
1822
Daughter born: Caroline Elisabeth Dahl
1822
Major article on Dahl in “Artistisches Notizenblatt”
The archaeologist C. A. Böttiger, a member of the same Dresden circle and publisher of “Artistisches Notizenblatt”, runs a major article on Dahl.
1823
A house for two families: Dahl moves in with Friedrich
The two families share a house in Dresden, and Dahl's students — Knud Baade, Peder Balke, Thomas Fearnley — come under the equal influence of both masters, though Dahl's own more spontaneous, painterly manner soon prevails. Clients sometimes commission pictures from both, a tranquil coastal scene by Friedrich to pair with a stormier subject by Dahl.
1824
Extraordinary professor at the Dresden Academy
Dahl and Friedrich are named extraordinary professors — without a chair but with a regular salary (other accounts say a professorial chair). Dahl later turns down an offer of a permanent chair, unwilling to be obliged to appear in class while busy with a painting; he forms no school around himself, letting his students cultivate their own styles.
