LECTURE: Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich: Exemplar of Romantic Painting
Speaker: Kevin N. Moll
Historians generally use the term “Romanticism” to account for the artistic aspirations reflected in music, painting, and literature during the 1800s. Our concert halls still resound with the works of famous Romantic composers—Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner. Well-known Romantic writers include Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, George Sand, and the Brontë sisters. But when it comes to Romantic painting, most people draw a blank.
This talk will focus on one of the most important visual artists of the early 19th century: Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840). He was arguably the greatest German oil painter of the entire Romantic period — yet hardly anyone in this country knows his name, and his works are rarely displayed in our museums. Through a slideshow of about 40 of his paintings, we’ll explore how Friedrich brought the key ideas and feelings of Romanticism to life on canvas.
Thursday, June 11, at 7:00pm
Donation: $10
Please click HERE to register for Caspar David Fredrich: Exemplar of Romantic Painting
Kevin N. Moll is an emeritus professor of Musicology at East Carolina University, where from 2002 to 2017 he served as director of the multi-disciplinary program in Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Dr. Moll has taught undergraduate and graduate music history courses across all chronological eras of Western Music, as well as in American music and Jazz. In addition, he taught a two-semester liberal arts course sequence in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, as well as a course in film history for ECU’s Honors College. He is currently teaching in an adjunct capacity at New England Conservatory and serves as executive director of the Still River Chamber Music Society. As a performer, Dr. Moll has been active for many years as double-bassist, viola da gambist, choral singer, and director of various early-music ensembles.
Image Credit: Caspar David Friedrich, Two Men Contemplating the Moon, ca. 1825-30, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.