Caspar David Friedrich's 'Sea of Ice' star of new Berlin exhibition

DPA
·2 min read
Two employees of the Alte Nationalgalerie hang the painting "The Sea of Ice" by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) on the wall of the museum. To mark the 250th anniversary of the artist's birth, the Alte Nationalgalerie, in cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, is presenting a major exhibition on the work of the most important painter of German Romanticism. Alina Schmidt/dpa

To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie is presenting a major exhibition on the work of the most important painter of German Romanticism.

One of Friedrich's most famous works, "The Sea of Ice," painted in 1823-24, was hung in the Alte Nationalgalerie on Monday as part of the exhibition in co-operation with the Kupferstichkabinett Museum of Prints and Drawings of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin group of museums in the German capital.

The loan from the Hamburg's Kunsthalle is one of the highlights of the exhibition "Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes" which runs from April 19 to August 4.

The exhibition is part of a series of thematically independent shows to mark the anniversary year at Hamburg's Kunsthalle, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in the eastern city of Dresden. The three museums have the most important collections of Friedrich's works in the world.

More than 60 paintings and 50 drawings are to be shown in Berlin. An extension of opening hours has already been planned for the exhibition.

The Hamburg exhibition, which featured more than 60 paintings and around 100 drawings by the painter, attracted a record 335,000 visitors in recent months.

In Hamburg, the exhibition theme was "Art for a New Era," Berlin's focuses on "Infinite Landscapes," while in Dresden, the Albertinum and Kupferstichkabinett have decided to take a look at "Where It All Began" from August onwards.

Kerstin Krainer (R), conservator Alte Nationalgalerie and Eva Keochakian, conservator Hamburger Kunsthalle examine the painting "The Sea of Ice" by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) for transport damage. To mark the 250th anniversary of the artist's birth, the Alte Nationalgalerie, in cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, is presenting a major exhibition on the work of the most important painter of German Romanticism. Alina Schmidt/dpa