"Wanderer Watching a Sea of Fog" by Caspar David: Terminology Analysis

Essay by scottascore09High School, 10th gradeA, October 2006

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The piece I chose was "Wanderer Watching a Sea of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich. This piece is about a man who worked hard to get to the top of a mountain and is excited about what he achieved. After his struggle he can stare out and be proud of what he accomplished, the prize of seeing the beautiful mountaintops was worth the effort. The painting symbolizes that there is a reward for hard work, the mountain represents a struggle and the beautiful landscape represents the prize. The theme of this piece is accomplishment.

Friedrich uses many of the elements of design in this work. The use of shapes in this piece is limited but there are some geometric shapes for the rocks and organic shapes for the clouds. Most of the lines in this work were curvy but there were some straight lines to create the geometric shapes.

There is a bit of emphasis on the color and texture in this work. The clouds on the tops of the sky are puffier and the colors are warmer to represent the fortune in front of him. The mountains in the picture are dark and jagged to represent the hardships he overcame. There is a contrast among the colors and the difference in height between the mountain and the man. There is a rhythm in the painting by the repetition of the curvy clouds and jagged rocks.

The center of interest in this piece is the man in the center on top of the mountain. Colors and shapes are repeated in the mountains and clouds around the man. The repetitiveness balances the picture by contrasting the small man that takes to the enormous mountains and sky. The perspective helps to balance the piece because the man and the rock he...