A recently rediscovered drawing by 19th century German artist Casper David Friedrich (1774-1840) is to go on sale for the first time in over a century.
Blick Auf Arkona, Rugen will feature at Sotheby's 19th Century European Paintings auction in London on November 20.
 The drawing had previously only been seen in an archival photograph |
The drawing, estimated to make £200,000-300,000 ($321,594-482,391), was produced in around 1803 and features a view of Kap Arkona on the island of Rugen on Germany's Baltic coast.
Friedrich was a romantic painter, best known for his atmospheric and baroque landscapes that predominantly feature desolate ruins.
He often places figures in the frame that appear dwarfed by their surroundings.
Tessa Kostrzewa, director of Sotheby's 19th century European paintings department, said: "It is always tremendously exciting to handle works by Friedrich, the father of German Romantic painting, especially when one is dealing with a rediscovered work believed to have been lost.
"The composition, and its symbolism, was clearly very meaningful to the young Friedrich, as he repeated it several times.
"The isle of Rugen had a hold on his imagination, becoming the subject of one of his most famous paintings of all, of strollers overlooking the sea from the island's chalk cliffs."
Works by Friedrich have achieved impressive figures at auction, with Eine Nordische Fruhlingslandschaft making £1m ($1.6m) against a £400,000-600,000 ($643,222-964,833) estimate at Sotheby's London in 2004.
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