Kupferstich-Kabinett: Caspar David Friedrich. Der Zeichner

Caspar David Friedrich, Blick aus dem Kapitelsaal der Klosterruine Heilig Kreuz bei Meißen, um 1824

Caspar David Friedrich — The Draughtsman

Caspar David Friedrich. Where it all started

The Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden’s Residenzschloss provides a close-up view of Friedrich’s drawings. The artist drew constantly during his travels in Saxon Switzerland, in the Riesengebirge, and during visits to his hometown of Greifswald and the island of Rügen. Above all, his drawings reflect the concentration and dedication with which Friedrich studied nature.

Exhibition Site Residenzschloss

DATES 24/08/2024—17/11/2024

Opening Hours

Friday—Monday, Wednesday 10—18
Thursday 10—21
Tuesdays closed

Book online

Fragile studies, sketches and drawings made by the artist, normally kept in the museum depository to protect them from light, are accessible to the public in the Kupferstich-Kabinett. Friedrich used pen and pencil to outline coastal landscapes, gnarled trees and rugged rocks in his sketchbooks and he created masterpieces in sepia ink, watercolour and gouache. Here in the Residenzschloss visitors can admire exquisite works on loan from Basel, Paris and Winterthur, rarely revealed specimens such as “Natural Arch in the Uttewalder Grund” from the Museum Folkwang in Essen, “Dolmen by the Sea” from the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and Friedrich’s “Plauenscher Grund” series from the Dresden City Art Gallery.

aufgeschlagenes Skizzenbuch — **Das Karlsruher Skizzenbuch im Kupferstich-Kabinett**

Zeichnung an der Wand und Vitrine im Vordergrund — **Ausstellungsansicht "Caspar David Friedrich. Wo alles begann" im Kupferstich-Kabinett**

Menschen in der Ausstellung — **Ausstellungsansicht "Caspar David Friedrich. Wo alles begann" im Kupferstich-Kabinett**

Wand mit Zeichnungen — **Ausstellungsansicht "Caspar David Friedrich. Wo alles begann" im Kupferstich-Kabinett**

One outstanding highlight in this display is the recently purchased “Karlsruhe Sketchbook”. It offers profound insights into early work done by the artist with passion and precision as he experienced nature from within or contemplated it from without. Friedrich’s complex mental universe is revealed not only by his drawings, but also in a unique manuscript from the holdings of the Kupferstich-Kabinett in which, as a mature artist, he reflects on the art of his time and formulates his own reflections on the theory of art.