Saturday, February 24, 2007

Art Journal

Feb. 18

I visited a very interesting show of German painting at Getty. It is base on comparison and contrast of the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) and Gerard Richter (born 1932).

Friedrich was one of the first artists that made landscapes their subject matter. The pieces of Richter are large-scale abstract paintings, the examples of German Expressionism.
In general, Friedrich's art is contemplative and meditative. Richter's work as emotional and energetic. But at the same time there is always a sense of something greater that hides behind the detail-oriented painting of Friedrich. For example, his "Bushes in the Snow" communicate a great sense of anxiety, that brings it very close to Richet's abstractions.
Looking at the historical background, Friedrich was affected by the French invasion in 1800. Similary, Richet was getting his art education in the postwar East Germany, and he moved to West Germany in 1961.

"Cross in the Mountains: by Friedrich made me really stop and think. It depicts the mountain and the crusifiction, but there are the beams of light coming from a light source behind the mountain, like projectors in LA. Very surprising.