Friedrich Caspar David
Born Sept.5, 1774 in Northern Germany and died May 7, 1840 Friedrich Caspar David was a landscape painter from the nineteenth-century German Romantic period, and generally considered the most important painter from that movement. As painter and draughtsman, he is best known for his later allegorical landscapes, which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, or morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. He came of age during a period when, across Europe, a growing disillusionment with an over-materialistic society led to a new appreciation for spiritualism. Although renowned during his lifetime, Friedrich's work fell from favour during his later years. His rediscovery began in 1906, when an exhibition of 32 of his paintings and sculptures was held in Berlin.
