Memories of the Giant Mountains

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.

1835

Money from the Russian royal family and a cure at Teplitz

Soon after his stroke the Russian royal family purchases a number of his earlier works, and the proceeds allow him to travel to Teplitz, in today’s Czech Republic, to recover.

June 1835

His first stroke

Friedrich’s first stroke leaves him with minor limb paralysis and greatly reduces his ability to paint: he can no longer work in oil and is limited to watercolour, sepia and reworking older compositions. His vision remains strong, but his hand has lost its full strength.

by 1838

Small formats only and the help of friends

By 1838 Friedrich can work only in a small format; he and his family live in poverty and depend increasingly on the charity of friends. In his final years he is close to the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl, and the support of Zhukovsky proves invaluable to the ailing and impoverished artist.

7 mei 1840

Died