Caspar David Friedrich: The Karlsruhe Sketchbook

A facsimile edition of one of the German Romanticist's six surviving sketchbooks, hidden in a private collection for nearly two centuries

When a German museum consortium acquired Caspar David Friedrich's (1774–1840) Karlsruhe sketchbook, it became the last of the artist's six surviving sketchbooks to enter a public collection. Dating from around 1804, the volume captures a pivotal moment in Friedrich's artistic development: 33 drawings made during his walks through Dresden and its surroundings. Notably, the sketch of the oak tree on page nine features in Friedrich's contemporaneous paintings Cairn in Snow (1807) and The Abbey in the Oakwood (1809–10). This Swiss-bound facsimile edition of the Karlsruhe sketchbook reproduces each page and includes a scholarly introduction contextualizing Friedrich's creative process, acquainting readers with the artist's visual world as seen through his own eyes.