Artist Michael Sandle chooses The Sea of Ice (aka The Polar Sea and The Wreck of Hope), a haunting Arctic image by Caspar David Friedrich as his favourite painting.

'As I’ve been a visual artist all of my life, it’s been difficult to decide from all of the paintings floating in my mind which is my favourite, but this one kept jumping out from all of the others.

It’s an immensely powerful image, with a similar dynamic to Tatlin’s equally unforgettable Tower, and also has a lot in common with Totes Meer by another favourite artist of mine, Paul Nash.

As I’m a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist, the additional title sometimes used for this stunning work — Die gescheiterte Hoffnung, or The Wreck of Hope — also greatly appeals to me.’

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