Quotes from Caspar David Friedrich

The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself.

If he sees nothing within, then he should stop painting what is in front of him.

I must stay alone and know that I am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full; I have to surrender myself to what encircles me, I have to merge with my clouds and rocks in order to be what I am.

I must stay alone and know that I am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full.

God is everywhere, in the smallest grain of sand.

You call me a misanthrope because I avoid society. You err; I love society. Yet in order not to hate people, I must avoid their company.

Close your bodily eye, that you may see your picture first with the eye of the spirit. Then bring to light what you have seen in the darkness, that its effect may work back, from without to within.

You call me a misanthrope because I avoid society. You err; I love society. Yet in order not to hate people, I must avoid their company.

I must stay alone and know that I am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full; I have to surrender myself to what encircles me, I have to merge with my clouds and rocks in order to be what I am. Solitude is indispensible for my dialogue with nature.

Why, it has often occurred to me to ask myself, do I so frequently choose death, transience, and the grave as subjects for my paintings? One must submit oneself many times to death in order some day to attain life everlasting.

The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself. If he sees nothing within, then he should stop painting what is in front of him.

Close your bodily eye, that you may see your picture first with the eye of the spirit. Then bring to light what you have seen in the darkness, that its effect may work back, from without to within.

Every true work of art must express a distinct feeling.

I have to stay alone in order to fully contemplate and feel nature.

All authentic art is conceived at a sacred moment and nourished in a blessed hour; an inner impulse creates it, often without the artist being aware of it.

The pure, frank sentiments we hold in our hearts are the only truthful sources of art.

A painting which does not take its inspiration from the heart is nothing more than futile juggling.

The eye and fantasy feel more attracted by nebulous distance than by that which is close and distinct in front of us.