Woman at the Window, 1822
Caspar David Friedrich
A figure seen only from behind looks out at a mast on the river below.
A woman leans at an open window, gazing out toward masts and river beyond the plain interior. Friedrich makes longing itself the subject — the pull of the world outside — in a quietly poignant, beautifully balanced small painting.
What you're looking at
The woman is Caroline, his wife, and the room is his own studio on the Elbe in Dresden. Nearly the whole canvas is grey-brown board and bare wall; the only colour is the slot of green water, mast and sky she is looking at. The window frame makes a cross without being drawn as one. She is turned entirely away, so the picture withholds the one thing a portrait usually gives.
On a Frame TV
About 5:7, so the matted file. The clean crop would cut the window from the room, and the painting is the contrast between them. Very low contrast and largely brown: an interior picture for an interior light.
- 4K master file (3840px+)
- Samsung Frame TV–ready crop
- Phone wallpaper crop
- Printable art card
Public domain · one .zip, no sign-up
More like this
Other works in the collection, starting with Caspar David Friedrich.
