Drifting Clouds

Having barely changed at all right into the 1820s, Friedrich’s style now began to show signs of a subtle evolution. His formerly somewhat reserved, dry, often monochrome use of colour now began to give way to a more differentiated palette. Passages of glaze are complemented by areas of impasto; the colour range is frequently enhanced with very light values, and Friedrich’s handling of paint becomes looser and somewhat more spontaneous. English influences, from Constable or others working in a similar vein, may account for Friedrich’s interest in cloud studies. Drifting Clouds is an example of these studies.

This small composition is probably identical to a work recorded in Dresden in 1859 and described as portraying a Riesengebirge landscape with the source of the Elbe.