Caspar David Friedrich was a really really melancholic person. With that he would theoretically fit perfectly into the group of romantic painters of his time, but his paintings were radically different. He gave landscapes and romanticism a whole new spin.

The painting “Monk at the sea” for example, can be described as abstract. Which was very unusual at the time. Some say he wanted to show how overwhelming nature can be in it’s beauty and vastness but also how it makes us insignificant and remembers our fleeting lifes.

Some of his paintings were influenced by the death of one of his brothers, some by the war and some because he suffered from depression and apparently even tried to commit suicide. His later paintings didn’t got much attention because realism in landscapes was cool and Caspar didn’t like that at all and continued to do his thing, even though he couldn’t make money with it anymore.

In general it seems like he was a rebellious person and/or very bitter. He hated Napoleon and sadly all the French, apparently. But he also said some cool stuff. Here’s a translation of his opinion about his teachers in art class:

Not everything can be taught, not everything can be learned, and acquired through mere dead practice; for what can truly be called of a purely spiritual nature in art lies beyond the narrow boundaries of craftsmanship. Therefore, you teachers of art, who fancy yourselves so much with your knowledge and skill, be very cautious not to tyrannically impose your teachings and rules on everyone; for by doing this, you can easily crush the delicate flowers, destroy the temple of individuality, without which a person can accomplish nothing great.” – Caspar David Friedrich (1830)

There are many different interpretations about his art. In part because some see him as one of the first modern painters. So many different people tried to analyse his works. But there isn’t so much material about the person because he is much more famous now, after his death.