Woman on the beach of Ruegen 1818

Caspar David Friedrich made this oil on canvas, titled "Woman on the Beach of Ruegen", sometime around 1818. It is typical of Friedrich's Romantic style to place figures in settings that invite contemplation of nature's grandeur. Here, a woman is sitting on a rock, turned away from us, looking out at the sailboats on the water. The scene is rendered in muted tones. The sky and sea blend together in a pale haze, and the sails are a dull red-brown. The artist created this painting in Germany after the Napoleonic wars, during a period of growing nationalism. Friedrich was part of a generation that turned to nature for inspiration, and the island of Ruegen, where he spent his honeymoon, became a symbol of German identity and independence. The woman's posture, turned away from the viewer, invites us to identify with her and to share her experience of contemplating nature. A closer look at Friedrich's images, along with the history of its time, will open up still more insight into what it meant to paint such a picture at that moment in time.