1837 (ca.), Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise on an Empty Shore -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Standing before the two seascapes on this wall, we assume the position of the figure in Friedrich's much earlier Monk by the Sea: on a rocky beach contemplating the horizon and whatever it may hold. With no signs of human existence, Friedrich's late coastal views also evoke a primordial state in the earth's history, long before people sailed its waters or walked its shores. Deposited here eons ago, the stones have witnessed the rising of the moon and the changing of the tides countless times. In this way, the scenes invite contemplation of both the unfathomably distant past and the unknowable future.
1837 (ca.), Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise on an Empty Shore -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Standing before the two seascapes on this wall, we assume the position of the figure in Friedrich's much earlier Monk by the Sea: on a rocky beach contemplating the horizon and whatever it may hold. With no signs of human existence, Friedrich's late coastal views also evoke a primordial state in the earth's history, long before people sailed its waters or walked its shores. Deposited here eons ago, the stones have witnessed the rising of the moon and the changing of the tides countless times. In this way, the scenes invite contemplation of both the unfathomably distant past and the unknowable future.