In the 1820s, the landscape oil sketch experienced its breakthrough and gradually established itself in the German states. This practice was linked with the possibility of reacting spontaneously and in color to phenomena that were subject to constant change. As far as the application of such oil sketches is concerned, more attention was now devoted to the sky with its nuanced moods of light and the ephemeral play of the clouds.

Friedrich reacted somewhat cautiously to these developments. Throughout his life, he had relied on the pencil when he ventured outdoors. He also depended on color notes made on his study sheets to maintain his memory of the coloristic appearance of things. While these notes afforded him an element of support for the subsequent development of his studies in his studio, it was hardly possible to preserve the immediate impression of nature in this way. Yet Friedrich saw no reason to fundamentally reconsider his creative process. Otherwise, he would have surely relied more on the oil sketch, which was popular in Dresden at the time.

Only three oil sketches have survived from Friedrich’s hand, all of which are devoted to the sky and its atmospheric content. (1) This oil sketch of an evening sky, on which Friedrich used a brush handle to inscribe “Abend Oktober 1824” (“Evening October 1824”) into the wet paint at the lower right of the painting, documenting its month of origin, is a bravura piece in its own right. (2) This date provides an important indication of his preoccupation with this technique, for in 1821, his Norwegian artist friend Johan Christian Dahl, who also lived in Dresden, returned from Italy, from where he had brought back a large number oil sketches. In 1823, Dahl moved into the same building, An der Elbe 33, that Friedrich resided in. Hence, he could directly experience the virtuoso sketches Dahl created from his apartment window, which may have inspired Friedrich to emulate his friend. (3)

Friedrich’s mastery of the technique is impressively illustrated by his evening sky at sunset. Despite the small format, he has succeeded in capturing the different color values and subtle color transitions in a painterly manner, with the blue of the sky still visible in the upper area of the picture. It is full of characteristic cloud formations that seem pink due to the blaze of the red sunset. These are cirrus clouds, which consist of fine ice crystals and are only found in great heights. By rendering a specific type of cloud, Friedrich accentuates that – despite his skepticism – he was by all means willing to reflect certain scientific insights in his art. (4)

Markus Bertsch, in: exh. cat. Hamburg 2023, p. 252.

(1) Börsch-Supan/Jähnig 1973, pp. 392 f., nos. 318–20.
(2) Ibid., pp. 392 f., no. 319. See also exh. cat. Hamburg 1974, p. 266, no. 176; exh. cat. Frankfurt am Main/Weimar 1994, p. 540, no. 355; Busch 1995, pp. 465 f.; Busch 2011, pp. 186 f.; exh. cat. Oslo/Dresden 2014, p. 187, no. 79.
(3) Ibid., p. 185; Busch 2014, pp. 22 f.
(4) Busch 2011, p. 186.