Corbeaux sur un arbre

1820

Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich in his studio

At the behest of his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich visits Friedrich’s studio and returns to Saint Petersburg with a number of paintings, beginning a patronage that continues for many years.

by 1820

A recluse, “the most solitary of the solitary”

By 1820 Friedrich is living as a recluse, described by friends as the most solitary of the solitary.

1820

The birth of his daughter Emma

The Friedrichs’ first child, a daughter named Emma, is born; they will have three children. The third, Gustav Adolf, is named after the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and becomes a notable painter in his own right.

1821

Meets Zhukovsky

In 1821 the Romantic poet Vasily Zhukovsky, an admirer of his work, visits Friedrich’s studio: he buys several paintings and keeps them all his life. The friendship that begins lasts until the artist’s death, and thanks to Zhukovsky Friedrich becomes popular in Russia — today Russian museums hold 17 of his paintings, 15 of them in the Hermitage.

23 décembre 1824

Son born: Adolf Friedrich

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.