A man stands on a rock with his back to us. Below him lies a sea of fog, with a few peaks rising out of it like islands.

One of the most significant painters of German Romanticism, Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), painted this scene around 1818. Europe had lived through war, and industrialization was beginning to change work and cities. The Romantics, among them the poet Friedrich von Hardenberg, known as Novalis, answered with a question: what does a person know that no instrument records?

“Close your physical eye, so that you may see your picture first with the inner eye.”

Caspar David Friedrich

Or, as we like to say: cut the noise and take time to think.

Where is he looking?

Werner Busch, working from Friedrich’s own drawings, concludes that the wanderer’s gaze rests precisely on the horizon (2010).1 Joseph Leo Koerner reads the figure seen from behind as the experiencing person through whom we take part in the scene (1990).2 The Hamburger Kunsthalle observes that he stands on his rock like an unshakable statue, and that Friedrich makes vision itself the painting’s theme.3 So, where should we ideally look? At the fog? At the path? At the possibilities?

Fog again

Perhaps the Wanderer is more relevant than ever before. Tellingly enough, Ethan Mollick, in his new bestseller Co-Existence (2026), describes AI capability as a jagged landscape of sharp peaks and deep valleys.4 He argues that most work now spans that terrain and that humans are still best equipped to navigate it. Peaks and fog: the painting fits the picture.

What it means for us

The painting might give us some thoughts to hold on to.

  • What is the rock we stand on, the reliable things?
  • Where do we look when the road ahead is foggy?
  • What gives us reason to stay relaxed?

After all, even when the weather changes, the questions often seem to stay the same.

Talent Takeaway

  • Write down the rock you stand on: your values, your skills, the people you trust. They give you reason to stay relaxed.
  • Choose where to look when the road ahead is foggy, and name your next step.
  • For the people you develop: who knows, the road ahead could be phenomenal. Help them keep going when the fog is thick. It will settle sooner or later.

1 Busch, W. (2010). Into the Void: The Wanderer above the Sea of Mist, Caspar David Friedrich. In C. Dell (Ed.), What Makes a Masterpiece? Thames & Hudson, pp. 252–255.
https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/6480

2 Koerner, J. L. (1990; 2nd ed. 2009). Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape. Reaktion Books.
https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/?p=33997

3 Hamburger Kunsthalle: Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, online collection.
https://online-sammlung.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/en/objekt/HK-5161

4 Mollick, E. (2026). Co-Existence: The Next Phase of AI. Portfolio/Penguin. Statements about the book follow the publisher’s description.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/813026/co-existence-by-ethan-mollick/