The Stages of Life (Lebensstufen), c.1835 Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Caspar David Friedrich also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Stages of Life (Lebensstufen) is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

The Stages of Life
Friedrich probably painted The Stages of Life in 1835, shortly before his second major stroke. It shows the popular promenading point of Utkiek in Wieck, where the people of Greifswald often went to watch the ships as they approached Greifswald harbour. The five figures on the shore have been identified as Friedrich himself and members of his family. They are mirrored by five ships on the sea, sailing quietly towards the bay. Their mysterious silhouettes and the strange gestures of the figures suggest that this is more than just a memento of a family excursion. The picture has been interpreted as a metaphorical voyage through life, ending in death - 'the eternal resting place'.
The two small children in the picture are waving the Swedish flag, for Friedrich's Greifswald was originally part of Swedish Pomerania. In 1815, however, Swedish Pomerania was absorbed into Prussia.
The ships are silhouetted against a poetic evening sky, streaked with violet and yellow, and with a glimpse of the sickle moon.
The studies of ships that Friedrich used for the painting date back to 1818. Years later, he has emphasized the mast's crucifix form.
The figures in the picture represent the four stages of life - childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Friedrich's young children, Gustav Adolf and Agnes, play with a flag, watched by his eldest daughter, Emma. The man facing us is probably a nephew; the elderly man is Friedrich himself.
The Stages of Life - one of his most mysterious images - reveals a lasting preoccupation with the theme of mortality. It has been interpreted as a premonition of death. The artist appears in the painting walking slowly towards the seashore. His figure is echoed by a ghostly ship. Now nearing the end of its voyage, the ship is a poignant symbol of man's passage from birth to death.