J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner was a British Romantic artist known for landscapes and marine subjects, using expressive light and color to convey weather and atmosphere.
Painter
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich was a German Romantic painter known for solitary figures, misty landscapes, ruins, and carefully composed scenes of nature.
Caspar David Friedrich quick facts
Friedrich used carefully planned compositions and atmospheric light to turn familiar German and Baltic landscapes into meditations on nature.
| Full name | Caspar David Friedrich |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1774 · Greifswald, Swedish Pomerania |
| Died | May 7, 1840 · Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony |
| Nationality | German |
| Movements | Romanticism (German Romantic landscape painting) |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Watercolor |
| Other media | Sepia and ink landscape drawings |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper |
| Painting methods | Prepared carefully drawn compositions and detailed underdrawing beneath controlled oil layers |
| Common subjects | Mountains, fog, forests, ruined churches, Baltic coastlines, moonlight, and solitary figures seen from behind |
| Notable works | Wanderer above the Sea of Fog · Monk by the Sea · The Sea of Ice · Winter Landscape |
Sources: National Gallery: Caspar David Friedrich, National Gallery: Winter Landscape, National Gallery of Art: Northern Landscape, Spring, Caspar David Friedrich Society: biography, Met: Rooms with a View.
Paint types used by Caspar David Friedrich
Friedrich’s meditative landscapes appear in oil on canvas and watercolor on paper, where washes combine with graphite or ink drawing in his studies.
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Oil paint
Friedrich’s Northern Landscape, Spring is oil on canvas; his collection records also document oils such as Winter Landscape. He used the medium for carefully composed landscapes in which a small human presence sits within expansive terrain. These museum records establish oil as a medium for finished landscape paintings.
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Watercolor
In New Moon or Solar Eclipse above the Riesengebirge Mountains, Friedrich combined watercolor with pen and gray ink over graphite. The National Gallery of Art identifies the sheet as a watercolor on paper. This layered drawing differs from his finished oil landscapes and documents watercolor as a distinct part of his practice.
Sources: National Gallery of Art: Northern Landscape, Spring, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art: New Moon or Solar Eclipse above the Riesengebirge Mountains, watercolor over graphite.; National Gallery: Winter Landscape
Painting surfaces used by Caspar David Friedrich
Friedrich’s landscape paintings are recorded on canvas, while watercolors use paper; examples connect these supports to distinct parts of his practice.
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Canvas
Friedrich’s oil paintings, including Winter Landscape and Northern Landscape, Spring, are documented on canvas. The support carries carefully arranged landscapes, from open terrain to snow-covered settings. These records distinguish finished oil paintings on canvas from his watercolor and drawing studies on paper.
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Paper
Friedrich used paper for drawings and watercolors, including the National Gallery of Art’s New Moon or Solar Eclipse above the Riesengebirge Mountains, made with watercolor, pen, ink, and graphite. His paper works document a preparatory and independent drawing practice, distinct from the oil paintings on canvas.
Sources: National Gallery: Caspar David Friedrich, National Gallery: Winter Landscape, National Gallery of Art: Northern Landscape, Spring, Caspar David Friedrich Society: biography, Met: Rooms with a View.
Painters similar to Caspar David Friedrich
Turner and Friedrich are distinct Romantic landscape painters whose works explore atmosphere, dramatic light, and humanity's place in nature.