Drawn and painted with ink and graphite, boulders and rocks painted in hazy, soft tones of fawn and sable brown fill the bottom third of this horizontal landscape drawing. Placid water leads back to a horizon that blends with the bone-brown sky above. A pale, cream-white full moon hangs low in the sky near the center of the composition.

Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Moonrise on an Empty Shore

Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774 - 1840)

1837/1839

Medium: brush and brown ink over graphite on wove paper
Classification: Drawing
Dimensions: overall: 25.2 x 39.5 cm (9 15/16 x 15 9/16 in.)
Culture: German
Museum: National Gallery of Art, CG-E
Credit line: Patrons' Permanent Fund
Rights: Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

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