Casper David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

As we all know, I’ve been looking forward to the Casper David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a long time. If you remember, I jumped the gun and went to the Met last February, thinking the exhibition had already opened. I’ve been so excited about it that I can’t believe I waited a week after the actual opening to go see it.

The Chasseur in the Forest

Located in Gallery 199, there are approximately 75 works on display, covering all phases of the German Romantic’s career, including many landscape studies and his Karlsruhe Sketchbook (1804). For me, it was a great thrill to finally see his A Walk at Dusk (ca. 1830-35), Monk by the Sea (1808-10), and Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (ca. 1817) in person. They certainly lived up to my high expectations.

Seeing them in person, I have a new-found love for his The Chasseur in the Forest (1813-14) and Woman at the Window (1822). Other favorites, such as the Met’s own Two Men Contemplating the Moon (ca. 1825-30), Ernst Ferdinand Oehme's A Portal of a Church (1820s), and Julius von Leypold's Wanderer in the Storm (1835), the latter two being Friedrich's contemporaries, were naturally included in the exhibition.

Too much to take in in just one visit, my friend and I agreed we must return soon and look over the collection at least one more time. Being the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Friedrich in the United States, and with many of the pieces on loan from more than 30 different lenders, we may never get the opportunity to see many of these important works again.

The exhibition will run through May 11, 2025.

Other temporary and upcoming exhibits of interest at the Met:
• The Jousting Armor of Philip I of Castile (through April 1, 2026)
• Sargent and Paris (April 27— August 3, 2025)

A Walk at Dusk

Monk by the Sea

Two Men Contemplating the Moon

Wanderer in the Storm

I bought a packet of postcards at the gift
shop for my collection and gifts for friends