In this painting, Caspar David Friedrich captured all the important features of the evening sky and projected them onto the screen. The overall color scheme of the image is a mixture of dark tones and orange color aspects of the sunset. The contrasts between these two color worlds dominate the painting, making it as unique as it is impressive.

Just to the left of the center of the picture are two main actors of the picture. Two men, presumably brothers, in long robes and hats stand with their backs to the viewer. On the other hand, you are watching the sunset, but you can only see it as a silhouette in the darkness. Her gaze turns eagerly to what the viewer of the painting immediately captures as a key feature. The brothers admire the sunset. In the background of the picture, the sun already seems to have disappeared behind a mountain top and only the leftover light shines on the sky and the clouds. Two cloud bands in the middle of the picture hide a part of the orange tones and are a clear contrast to this bright color scheme.

Caspar David Friedrich has made sure, especially through the choice of landscape and vegetation, that the sunset comes to the fore. There is no recognizable vegetation that could distract from the play of light. In addition to the sky and the clouds are only hills on the painting to see whose feet disappear into water. While the elevations appear dark, the waters reflect the orange of the sunset, creating a stark contrast. At the same time, the result is that the painting gets brighter from the bottom up. The two men, whose backs can be seen, are standing on one of the hills, looking at the mountain worlds, which are criss-crossed by water, in the background. Above the middle of the picture, all that remains is the bright orange of the evening sun and the fields of mist and clouds that frame the painting.

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Sunset by Caspar David Friedrich. Available as an art print on canvas, photo paper, watercolor board, uncoated paper or Japanese paper.
setting sun · seascape · romantic · dusk · georgian costume · atmospheric · silhouette · sunset · skyline · romanticism · romanticist · State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia / Bridgeman Images