Major Berlin show marks 250th anniversary of German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich's birth

BERLIN (AP) — A major show of Caspar David Friedrich's iconic landscapes that marks the 250th anniversary of his birth is opening in Berlin, where he made his breakthrough and where a 1906 exhibition kicked off an enduring revival of interest in the German Romantic master.

The show at the German capital's Alte Nationalgalerie, which organizers presented on Wednesday ahead of its opening to the public Friday, includes some of Friedrich's best-known works.

Among them are the two paintings that brought him to fame in 1810, “Monk by the Sea” — depicting a lone figure against the background of a dark sea and looming sky — and “Abbey among the Oaks.” The works were bought by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

Visitors can also look forward to classics such as the dramatic “The Sea of Ice," “Chalk Cliffs on Rügen” and “The Watzmann,” depicting one of Germany's highest peaks. The exhibition brings together 115 paintings and drawings by Friedrich, exploring the progress of his career.

Although the paintings are based on painstaking drawings, some of which are part of the exhibition, they “are not a reflection of nature, but are actually visions on the great philosophical questions of human existence,” museum director Ralph Gleis said.

Gleis described Friedrich as probably the best-known German painter after Albrecht Dürer.

That wasn't always the case. Friedrich, who was born in Greifswald in northeastern Germany in 1774 and died in 1840, was largely forgotten in the second half of the 19th century. He returned to public attention thanks to a 1906 exhibition at Berlin's Nationalgalerie celebrating a century of German art, which contained 93 works by Friedrich and celebrated him as a master of light and atmosphere.

The new show leans in part on that exhibition and features 45 of the works the public in Berlin saw more than a century ago.

Friedrich, who painted at the time of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, has been associated with nationalism. That's reflected directly in at least one painting, “Rocky Valley,” featuring the tomb of Arminius, a figure from Roman times who was revered as a German national hero.

His work is characterized by an “openness to interpretation” that has repeatedly been exploited, Gleis said, noting that the Nazis “tried to pocket Friedrich.”

That made it a little difficult for Friedrich's work to gain attention after World War II. The English-speaking art world helped revive interest in him as a “universal artist," Gleis added.

Friedrich “created pictures of longing and hope, but also of doubt,” curator Birgit Verwiebe told a news conference.

The Berlin show is one of three partly overlapping major exhibitions in Germany to mark the 250th anniversary of Friedrich's birth, with museums in Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden collaborating. The first, in Hamburg, closed at the beginning of this month after attracting huge numbers of visitors. An exhibition in Dresden will open in August.

The German museums will support a later exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York “to share our Friedrich with the world,” Gleis said.

The exhibition at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin's neoclassical Museum Island complex, titled “Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes,” runs from Friday until Aug. 4. The museum has extended its opening times to deal with high anticipated demand.

A man sits in front of a copy of Caspa David Friedrich's painting Monastery Cemetery In Snow' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A major show of Caspar David Friedrich's iconic landscapes that marks the 250th anniversary of his birth is opening in Berlin, the city where he made his breakthrough and where an exhibition in 1906 kicked off an an enduring revival in interest in the German Romantic master. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People walk in front of a copies of Caspa David Friedrich's paintings Monastery Cemetery In Snow' , left, and 'High Mountains', right, during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A major show of Caspar David Friedrich's iconic landscapes that marks the 250th anniversary of his birth is opening in Berlin, the city where he made his breakthrough and where an exhibition in 1906 kicked off an an enduring revival in interest in the German Romantic master. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man sits in front of a copy of Caspa David Friedrich's painting Monastery Cemetery In Snow' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Germany, Germany, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A major show of Caspar David Friedrich's iconic landscapes that marks the 250th anniversary of his birth is opening in Berlin, the city where he made his breakthrough and where an exhibition in 1906 kicked off an an enduring revival in interest in the German Romantic master. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman walks near Caspar David Friedrich's painting 'The Sea of Ice' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The exhibition marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich and will run from April 19 until August 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A couple walk in front of the painings 'Monk By The Sea', left, and ' Abby Among The Oaks' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The exhibition marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich and will run from April 19 until August 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People look to Caspar David Friedrich's painting 'The Sea of Ice' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The exhibition marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich and will run from April 19 until August 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman inspects Caspar David Friedrich's painting 'Abby Among The Oaks' whis is displayed next to 'Monk By The Sea' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The exhibition marking the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich and will run from April 19 until August 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman looks to Caspa David Friedrich's painting 'The Watzmann' during a press preview of the exhibition 'Caspar David Friedrich. Infinite Landscapes' at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A major show of Caspar David Friedrich's iconic landscapes that marks the 250th anniversary of his birth is opening in Berlin, the city where he made his breakthrough and where an exhibition in 1906 kicked off an an enduring revival in interest in the German Romantic master. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri voters on Wednesday got a step closer to getting to decide whether to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, after a group behind the effort said it turned in nearly double the required number of signatures.

The ballot measure backed by Missouri Jobs with Justice would raise the minimum wage from its current $12.30 an hour to $13.75 an hour next year and then to $15 an hour in 2026.

Citizen-driven amendments to Missouri law require more than 100,000 voter signatures to get on the ballot, and Missouri Jobs with Justice said it submitted about 210,000. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's office must next determine if at least 115,000 or so are valid.

“We feel confident that voters will have an opportunity to pass this important initiative this fall," Caitlyn Adams, executive director of Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action, said in a statement.

Missouri voters historically have supported minimum wage hikes.

After the Republican-led Legislature in 2017 blocked St. Louis and Kansas City from raising wages in those cities, voters in 2018 approved a statewide minimum wage hike.

Under that plan, the wage floor — then $7.85 an hour — rose by 85 cents per year until it hit $12 in 2023. Pay rose again this year because of automatic increases tied to inflation.

The latest proposal also includes a requirement that workers get paid sick leave.

Employees currently not guaranteed sick days would earn an hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked under the measure.

Businesses with fewer employees would be required to allow a minimum of five paid sick days per year, and larger companies would be required to offer at least seven paid sick days.

In this photo provided by Joni Wickham, advocates hoping to raise Missouri's minimum wage to $15 an hour turned in voter signatures Wednesday, May 1, 2024, to the Secretary of State's Office in Jefferson City, Mo. Campaigns need more than 100,000 valid voter signatures to put proposed changes to Missouri law before voters. (Joni Wickham via AP)