Looking Outward to See Inward: Romanticism, Rückenfigur, and Friedrich

     Caspar David Friedrich is widely known for his impact in German Romantic art. This movement is often characterized by its fascination with nature's wonders and dangers as well as humanity’s role in it. Romanticism argues that instead of looking to reason to understand man’s purpose, people should observe nature in order to look within themselves and find ultimate truth. Though Romantic thought says that one will never truly be able to identify one’s place in the world, it's the search for such answers that is of the greatest value. Friedrich communicated these themes through his vast array of landscape portraits. In particular, he often utilized one style known as rückenfigur. This motif involves a figure in the artwork facing away from the viewer, usually to highlight the real subject matter of the natural background. This is a reversal of the expectation of art up until this point in time. It was understood by most people that art had to tell a logical story with people at its central focus. Instead of the audience receiving a narrative, this art style invites viewers to join the figures in their gaze upon nature and have a personal response from the experience.

In this collection, each artwork is presented in order of chronological completion. Every piece is an example of a different, yet similar, approach to rückenfigur by Caspar David Friedrich. Despite their differences in proportion, color, and types of scenery, all of these are tied together by the observation of people in them. Join the gaze of the figures as they guide us into observing the scenes, their power, beauty, and unknown capacities.

Monk by the Sea 

Caspar David Friedrich

1808-1810

Oil on Canvas

171.5 x 110.0 cm

Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

This painting by Friedrich depicts a monk alone on a seashore facing a dark ocean that starkly contrasts with the light and cloudy sky above. At first glance, it is likely that most people would not even notice the figure until thoroughly examining the piece. Instead, people are drawn to see the same sort of dark, void area that hovers over the ocean water that the monk is looking at. The ominous feeling created by the darkness is only strengthened by the solitude of the monk on a barren shore. It can be imagined that the monk and the viewer have similar responses to this scenery. 

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

Caspar David Friedrich

1818

Oil on Canvas

98.4 cm × 74.8 cm 

Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

In what is undoubtedly Caspar David Friedrich’s most famous painting, a man stands at the edge of a tall cliff overlooking a sea covered with fog. He and the audience can not see what is directly below the cliff in the sea, but off in the distance mountains jut out from the haze. In this specific perspective of rückenfigur, the man is far larger and more central than in other works. These observations paired with his fine clothing and body language indicate that he has power and this is further reinforced by the scene beyond him. Those viewing the painting are invited to look into nature with this same attitude, one of confidence and curiosity toward the unknown right in front of them.

Chalk Cliffs on Rügen

Caspar David Friedrich

1818-1819

Oil on canvas

90.5 x 71 cm

Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland

It is speculated that this image is of Friedrich and his wife, Christaine Caroline Bommer, on their honeymoon and accompanied by his brother, as they explore the chalk cliffs that surround the ocean vista. The figures are posed in a way that indicates movement as they explore the precarious edge. In this painting, the rückenfigur motif as well as line work together to frame the main focus, the ocean. Specifically, the jagged points of the rocks below and the branches of the leaves above direct our eyes to the sea. The woman on the right also physically directs our attention to the sharp rocks below indicating that there is more that we can not see from our perspective, producing a shared curiosity about nature between the figures and the audience

On Board a Sailing Ship

Caspar David Friedrich

1818-1820

Oil on Canvas

71cm x 56cm

Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Friedrich depicts a couple sailing away from a dark present and heading towards a bright horizon in this painting. The figures themselves are in the dark but looking forward to the sky ahead. The contrast in value between the foreground and background creates emphasis on the silhouettes of the figures perched on the edge of the boat, looking onward in a way that infers a sense of hopefulness. Their gaze and the ropes of the sailboat point the viewers toward the skyline in front of them and invite consideration of the possibilities ahead.

Two Men Contemplating the Moon

David Caspar Friedrich

1825-30

Oil on Canvas

34.9 x 43.8 cm

The Met

200.51

The moon held great significance during the German Romantic movement. It often served as a symbol of thought and contemplation, but also emotion, magic, and other things that are less understood by humanity. Friedrich uses these rückenfigures and the reaching roots of the tree are pointing its audience toward this central focal point to initiate such internal evaluation and external observation of this sunset forest scene. Scholars believe that their clothing was chosen to align with the style protestors chose at the time, so it is believed that this painting is calling its German audience to contemplate their society’s leadership.

Northern Landscape, Spring 

Caspar David Friedrich

1825

Oil on Canvas

35.3 x 49.1 cm

The National Gallery of Art

Friedrich depicts what appears to be a cold early morning on a barren landscape. The contrast between the bottom third of the land and the top two-thirds of the sky catches the attention of the audience first. Then, if viewers are paying attention they likely observe the two small figures located to the right of the center of the image. The audience does not even realize that they are viewing the landscape alongside the people in the painting at first. The two people are in a frozen land with a dark and cloudy sky above them and yet there are also small sprouts of grass in the foreground of the image, indicative of the titling “spring.” The subtle form of rückenfigur and the use of contrast also emphasizes the values of Romantic art because the scenery itself is introspective, where the land seems desolate, there are signs of hope for people in nature still.