Caspar David Friedrich: Nature and the Self

 “A triumph of bookmaking.”—Christoph Irmscher, Wall Street Journal

“In a detailed study of exemplary works by Friedrich and on the basis of an impressive knowledge of relevant natural-philosophical literature, Amstutz elaborates [her] thesis in her pleasantly readable and beautifully designed book. The lasting value of this monograph lies in the fact that it pursues the hypothesis of a natural-philosophical interpretation of Friedrich's works for the first time with consistency.”—Johannes Grave, Art Newspaper

“A revelatory look at how the mature work of Caspar David Friedrich engaged with concurrent developments in natural science and philosophy.”—Antiques and the Arts Weekly

Winner of the 2019 Novalis Prize for innovative research on European Romanticism in any field, sponsored by Novalis Gesellschaft

Shortlisted for the Waterloo Centre for German Studies Book Prize, sponsored by the The University of Waterloo

Finalist for the Klaus Heyne Prize for Research on German Romanticism, sponsored by Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

“In beautiful and, at times, poetic prose, Nina Amstutz masterfully explores Friedrich’s late work through the lens of German Romantic nature philosophy and the life sciences. Her revisionary analysis establishes a new place of central importance for these paintings.”—Marsha Morton, author of Max Klinger and Wilhelmine Culture: On the Threshold of German Modernism

“Amstutz persuades the reader that Friedrich’s paintings explore the mutual constitution of self and nature, of body and earth; that they do via Romantic philosophy’s blend of metaphysical and empirical inquiry.”—Alexander Nemerov, Stanford University