Two Men before a Waterfall at Sunset

1823
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 807

The man on the left, in a fitted coat and black top hat, appears in many of Dahl's paintings, while the one on the right wears the trademark beret and cape associated with Dahl's friend Caspar David Friedrich. This picture pays homage to Friedrich’s Two Men Contemplating the Moon (1819), which Dahl received as a gift from the artist (now Albertinum, Dresden). A later variant of Friedrich’s composition is in the Metropolitan (2000.51); that work, too, commemorates creative fellowship and a shared experience of nature.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Two Men before a Waterfall at Sunset
  • Artist: Johan Christian Dahl (Norwegian, Bergen 1788–1857 Dresden)
  • Date: 1823
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 15 x 14 in. (38.1 x 35.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Christen Sveaas, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.167.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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