An Overgrown Mineshaft
Carus was a leading painter of German Romanticism, second in importance only to his close friend Caspar David Friedrich. He was a multitalented man: a correspondent of Goethe's, theorist, writer on art, medical professor, royal physician, and notable scientist. His now-famous Nine Letters on Landscape Painting (1831) reflects his changing attitude toward nature. Having initially embraced a religio-mystical Romanticism, one that was nurtured by his friendship with Friedrich, Carus then changed course, moving toward greater objectivity and a nascent naturalism. His increased spontaneity in the face of nature is vividly expressed in the modest motif of An Overgrown Mineshaft, an entrance to a rock cave that has been taken over by riotous weeds and bushes.
Artwork Details
- Title: An Overgrown Mineshaft
- Artist: Carl Gustav Carus (German, Leipzig 1789–1869 Dresden)
- Date: ca. 1824
- Medium: Oil on paper, laid down on cardboard
- Dimensions: 11 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (28.6 x 21 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2007
- Object Number: 2007.164.1
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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Carl Gustav Carus
1858 (?)
Multiple artists/makers
1843
Carl Gustav Carus
1800–1869
Carl Gustav Carus
1844 (?)
Carl Gustav Carus
ca. 1833–35
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