Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1818
We never see his face. A man on a rock above the fog, his back to us. He is looking at the world. Or at God. Or at nothing.
About this work
Caspar David Friedrich painted Wanderer above the Sea of Fog around 1818. A man in a dark green overcoat stands on a rocky outcrop with his back to us, a walking stick in his right hand, looking out over a landscape buried in fog. Ridges, trees and distant mountains break through it, and far off the fog merges with the cloud-filled sky. The view is not one real place: Friedrich built it in the studio from sketches made in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Saxony and Bohemia. The rear-facing figure, the Rückenfigur, was one of his habits, and this is the most famous example of it. The painting is usually read as an image of self-reflection and of the sublime, and it is now one of the best-known works of German Romanticism. It was not treated as a masterpiece at first; Friedrich's reputation recovered in the early 20th century and especially in the 1970s. Its early history is unknown. By 1939 it was in the Berlin gallery of Wilhelm August Luz, and the Hamburger Kunsthalle acquired it in 1970.
Sources: Wikipedia · Hamburger Kunsthalle
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 5,256 × 6,742 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 35 × 44 in
- Sizes
- Small (16 × 20 in) · $100 · 329 ppi
Medium (19 × 24 in) · $150 · 277 ppi
Large (28 × 36 in) · $300 · 187 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog?
Here. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (16 × 20 in) for $100, Medium (19 × 24 in) for $150 and Large (28 × 36 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for Wanderer above the Sea of Fog?
The file is 5,256 × 6,742 px, so every size is sharp: even Large (28 × 36 in) prints at 187 ppi. Choose Large (28 × 36 in) for a large wall; Small (16 × 20 in) suits a narrower space.
Is it legal to print Wanderer above the Sea of Fog?
Yes. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
