Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes

EXHIBITION PREVIEW

Museumsinsel Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie

Bodestr. 1-3, 10178 Berlin
Opening hours: Tue – Sun, 10 am – 6 pm

Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes

19 April – 4 August, 2024
A special exhibition by the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Press conference: Wednesday, 17 April, 2024, 11 am
Special opening hours: Fridays and Saturdays 10am – 8pm

To mark the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), the Alte Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, in cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett, will for the very first time present a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the oeuvre of the most prominent painter of the German Romantic movement. More than 60 paintings and 50 drawings by Friedrich from Germany and abroad will be on display, including a number of world-famous, iconic works such as The Sea of Ice, Chalk Cliffs on Rügen or Monk by the Sea.

An exhibition of this kind is long overdue in Berlin, if only by virtue of the fact that the numerous acquisitions and public exhibitions that occurred in the Prussian capital played a considerable part in fostering the artist’s initial renown during his own lifetime. After the painter had faded into obscurity during the second half of the 19th century, the Nationalgalerie paid tribute to him in 1906 in its most comprehensive retrospective to date, the legendary Deutsche Jahrhundertausstellung, which included 93 of the artist’s paintings and drawings. Friedrich was lauded as a painter with an extraordinary proficiency for capturing light and atmosphere, and as a pioneer of modern art.

The rediscovery of Friedrich’s art, his pairs of paintings, as well as the artist’s process and technique will be in the center of the exhibition. Based on these themes, an overview of the life and work of the painter will be presented. The essence of his art between the precise study of nature and romantic imagination will become palpable. Friedrich created landscapes of longing with wide skies and distant horizons in which the infinity of space and time becomes perceptible. His timeless images stimulate thought and feeling, which makes them so fascinating to this day.

Tickets are available from now on at: www.smb.museum/tickets

For guided tours please visit: www.smb.museum/ang

Curated by Birgit Verwiebe, Alte Nationalgalerie.

The exhibition will be accompanied by catalogues in both English and German at Prestel Publishing, ed. by Birgit Verwiebe and Ralph Gleis (hardcover circa 350 pages).

Please note the exhibition’s special opening hours: On Fridays and Saturdays the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The anniversary exhibitions marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich in the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden are under the patronage of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The exhibition “Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes” is made possible by the Freunde der Nationalgalerie.

In honor of the 250th anniversary of Caspar David Friedrich’s birth, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presents the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the artist held in the United States (“Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature”, February 7–May 11, 2025). It is organized in cooperation with the Alte Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and Hamburger Kunsthalle.