Commentary
Hamburg version
There are two versions of this portrait. In the Hamburg version (1811) Friedrich is seated before his easel, painting, with his arm leaning on the mahlstick. In this version the viewer shares his view of the painting, which is recognizably a mountain landscape with a waterfall.
There is also a replica of this painting, painted in 1819, which is currently located in Mannheim.
Berlin version
Caspar David Friedrich sought seclusion, so that he could pursue his work undisturbed. Kersting depicts painting as a contemplative and reflective process - therefore the studio serves as a place of pure concentration. It is not what Frederick paints that is important, but the reverent meditation with which he paints.
In the Berlin version the painter is far more removed from the outside world - a chair leg is interposed between his feet and the viewer, and the door to the left of the composition is no longer visible. Most important, however, is the rotation of the easel, which hides the painting from the viewer. The picture has probably progressed to the point where Friedrich laid aside his plein-air drawings of nature and let his own recollection guide the painting to completion.
All distractions have been removed from the almost empty studio. The painter Karl von Kügelgen added:
| “ | Even the things most necessary to painting - the box of paints, the bottles of linseed oil, and the oil-rag - were moved to the adjoining room, because Frederick was of the opinion that any objects would disturb his inner world of imagination... | ” |
The doctor and naturalist Carl Gustav Carus described his working process as follows:
| “ | He never made sketches, cartoons, or color studies for his paintings, because he stated (and certainly he was not entirely wrong), that such aids chill the imagination somewhat. He did not begin to paint an image until it stood, living, in the presence of his soul... | ” |
Friedrich himself did not elaborate upon his methods. He spoke and wrote of his studio time as the " consecrated hour " within which he did not wish to be disturbed.
Kügelgen asked himself about the significance of the T-square, which hung as the " sole adornment " on the wall, and how " alone among all other things it was so honored". The reason was that ruler and triangle adhere to the sober simplicity of the studio and to Friedrich's working methods, a number of which involved mathematics.
Read more about this topic: Caspar David Friedrich In His Studio
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