Two Belfries at Sunset, Copenhagen

landscape

Naturalism in Germany and northern Europe showed a similar tendency to revise Dutch seventeenth-century patterns, infusing them with the vividness that came from making studies outdoors. The most prominent naturalistic artist in central Germany was the Norwegian Johann Christian Clausen Dahl. Dahl studied at the Copenhagen Academy and then, in 1820, went to Dresden, where he became a close friend of Caspar David Friedrich, sharing a house with him.

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About the Artist

Johan Christian Clausen Dahl

1788 – 1857

Norwegian painter, often called the discoverer of the Norwegian landscape. From 1824 until his death he was a professor at the Academy of Dresden, where he was a friend of Friedrich. The landscapes of Ruisdael were another influence on his Romantic outlook. Through his deep feeling for the grandeur of the landscape of his native country he was a pioneer of the new spirit of nationalism that characterized much Norwegian art in the 19th century.

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