Caspar David Friedrich and the Sacralization of Nature

The first major retrospective exhibition of the work of Caspar David Friedrich in thirty years will be on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from February through early May. Friedrich transformed and elevated landscape painting in the early 19th century from a minor genre to the bearer of the kind of sublime content that had formerly been reserved for biblical subjects alone. We will explore how Friedrich and other German Romantics redefined the sacred in terms of implied narrative, with the subjective experience of the viewer (not the landscape itself) as its primary concern.

Presented by:  Dr. Dennis Raverty is an Associate Professor at New Jersey City University where he teaches 19th and 20th-century art history, the art of West Africa, the diaspora and African American art, as well as the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Europe. An award-winning teacher, Raverty lives in New York City, and is currently co-authoring a book on American illustration with Dennis Dittrich, former president of the Society of Illustrators.  Click here to learn more about Dr. Raverty.