Calm Sea

Gustave Courbet, 1866

A narrow strip of beach and then a vivid turquoise stretch of water give way to a towering, hazy sky in this square landscape painting. The beach is painted with strokes of tan and peachy brown and skimmed with dark brown or black to create the impression of rocks or shells. The water extends to the horizon, which comes a quarter of the way up this composition, in shades of topaz and powder blue. Piles of fluffy clouds above are painted with loose strokes of cotton and gossamer white, creating a soft, blurred look. The artist signed and dated the canvas in the lower left corner with red paint, “’66 Gustave Courbet.”
Artist
Gustave Courbet
Date
1866
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
54.1 × 63.9 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

A narrow strip of beach and then a vivid turquoise stretch of water give way to a towering, hazy sky in this square landscape painting. The beach is painted with strokes of tan and peachy brown and skimmed with dark brown or black to create the impression of rocks or shells. The water extends to the horizon, which comes a quarter of the way up this composition, in shades of topaz and powder blue. Piles of fluffy clouds above are painted with loose strokes of cotton and gossamer white, creating a soft, blurred look. The artist signed and dated the canvas in the lower left corner with red paint, “’66 Gustave Courbet.”

Gustave Courbet