Woman at a Window

Woman at a Window is an oil painting of 1822 by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. This painting is currently located in Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.[1]

Woman at a Window
ArtistCaspar David Friedrich
Year1822
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions44 cm × 37 cm (17 in × 15 in)
LocationAlte Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Description

Like many of his paintings, there's only the back view of a figure. The painting depicts his wife at his studio in Dresden.[1] Although the painting only shows her back, it allows the viewers to imagine what she sees. The view that starts to form is that she lives in a constricted environment and the only access of the outside world is through the window. A port with some ships, water, a coastline, and trees starts to appear. There's also a view of the sky, but covered by the window above her. The ship that is passing slowly symbolizes how she is watching her life slowly passing by before her. The ship will be moving on while she is still stuck in the domestic environment. We get a sense that she wants more out of her life, just like most of Friedrich's paintings. In addition, there's also a sense of quietness and restriction in this painting, but it's not because this room is small. The room is in fact a very large space with high ceiling and big windows.

The painting has perfect verticals and horizontals line throughout. The woman is a contrast of this painting because she's the only part that doesn't fit into this geometric painting. Like many of his painting, Friedrich broke the order and symmetry by adding some sort of figure. In this case, he added the woman. Her body is slightly tilted to the left, breaking the geometry with her curvature. Adding the soft light sky and trees makes the woman stand out even more. From her posture to the lighting of the room shows what she has experienced throughout her life.

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References
  1. "Woman at a Window - Caspar David Friedrich - Google Arts & Culture". Google Cultural Institute. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
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