# Cloudy Evening Sky

Author: Caspar David Friedrich

Year: 1824

Three oil studies by Friedrich of cloudy evening skies have survived,
all of them dating from September to October, 1824. The impetus for
these works probably came from his Norwegian fellow painter and friend
Johan Christian Dahl, who from 1823 shared a house with Friedrich. In
contrast to Dahl's studies, in which the clouds are presented as compact
bodies, Friedrich was concerned with intangible optical phenomena. In
this painting he used a scale of orange, violet, and blue shades to
orchestrate a delicate, elusive color tone that spreads out over an
extremely low horizon. His wife Caroline is once said to have remarked:
"On the day he is painting air, he may not be spoken to!"

In Novalis's unfinished novel *Heinrich von Ofterdingen*, posthumously
published in 1802, we find the following hymn to clouds: "...... and
while their outward form is lovely and joyous like a wish floating up
from the depths of the heart, their luminosity -- that wondrous light
with which they invest the earth -- is like the portent of an
unheard-of, ineffable glory."

This painting, originally from the Belvedere collection, is included in
the *Beethoven Moves* exhibition until 24 January 2021 at the
[Kunsthistorisches Museum](https://www.khm.at/en/) in Vienna. The
exhibition gathers amazing pieces of art and much more, all of which are
brought into dialogue with the music and persona of Beethoven.

P.S.
[Here](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/caspar-david-friedrich-works/)
you will find the 10 most famous works of Caspar David Friedrich and
[here](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/10-facts-about-caspar-david-friedrich-you-should-know/)
are 9 facts about him you should know!