Art Gallery of New South Wales

Today, I made a quick visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, located among the giant fig trees of The Domain, a large parkland in the heart of Sydney, with views of one of the most spectacular harbours in the world. It's a must see if you are in this part of Australia, or the world.

Here are some marine-themed works from the AGNSW collection. From what I could see in the limited time available, only the Monet is actually on display. I suspect that marine painting, especially maritime or nautical art, is often seen by curators as too bourgeois - something that businessmen use to decorate their office or study. None of these works are by Australian artists. Marines have not been a major aspect of Australian painting, despite the fact that Australia is an island continent with a vast coastline, and, apart from the indigenous population, our ancestors came here on very long sea voyages. Perhaps we don't like to be reminded of the sea that exiled us from the rest of the world.

Charles Napier Hemy, Smugglers- "To save their necks".
Edward de Martino, Golfo degli Aranci, Sardinia.
John Mogford, Crossing the Bar, Scarborough.
Julius Olsson, The Night Tide, 1915.
Cluade Monet, Port-Goulphar, Belle-ile.

Marine Evenings

Albert Goodwin, Sunset.
Arthur B. Davis.
Olof Thunman
Frederick Judd Waugh, Moonlight, 1893.
Pelle Svedlund, Evening on the West Coast (Sweden, c.1891).  

Sunsets provide a way of introducing warm colours: golden yellows and reds, into a marine painting, to balance out the coolness of the sea.

Emptiness - Arkhip Kuindzhi

The Russian/Ukrainian painter Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842–1910) grew up on the shores of the Black Sea. He was a master of effects of light, distance and atmosphere. In their near emptiness, his seascapes and landscapes have a meditative, poetic quality.

The use of a warm complementary ground (visible in the wave sketch) gives vibrancy to the cool shades of water and sky painted over it.

Reading

Rowland Wheelwright, A Quiet Moment.
Charles Sprague Pearce, Reading by the Shore, c1883-1885
Sir William Orpen, Grace Reading at Howth Bay.

Winslow Homer - Fishing

Kissing the Moon

Saco Bay

The Herring Net

Fog Warning
The last painting, Shark Fishing, 1885, is a watercolor.
Homer's work as an illustrator seems to have given him a wonderful eye for image-making. He makes strong, iconic images that reproduce well, and would not be out-competed by text.
This is due to: interesting viewpoints, simplicity of design, zooming in to the subject, strong tonal contrasts, and energetic lines.

People on the Beach

Elihu Veder, Greek Girls Bathing.
Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer, A Beach Stroll.
Gabriel-Charles Deneux, Les peintres de retour du Mont Saint-Michel.
Frederick A Bridgman, Seaweed Gatherers.
Thomas Cooper Gotch, The Sand Bar.
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These painters have used figures to great effect in enlivening their beachscapes. Rods and pitchforks carried by the figures add diagonal linear elements. Clothing is also an opportunity to introduce some red or dark accents to contrast with the neutral coloured surf and sand.

The Bridgewater Sea Piece

Possibly my favourite marine painting, J.M.W. Turner's Dutch Boats in a Gale (the Bridgewater Sea Piece), 1801, was painted as a pendant (companion piece hanging below) to a similar scene by Willem van de Velde for the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. See below:

Turner's application of oil paint became increasing transparent and washy as he matured, and his oils began to look more and more like watercolours. This fluidity allowed him to create wonderfully subtle and luminous atmospheric effects.

The Fighting Temeraire, 1839

Benes Knupfer

Duel of the Tritons,  43 x 88 1/8 inches.









This mythological marine by the Czech painter Benes Knüpfer (1843-1910), is from an upcoming Christie's sale. He lived in Italy for many years.
When you use the website to zoom in, you can see that the brushstrokes are quite Impressionistic.

Albert Bierstadt

Puget Sound, NW Pacific


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The German American painter Albert Bierstadt heightens the sense of drama in this work through the use of strong contrasts: white spray against rocks, or a dark tree against a light background. He locates these tonal contrasts so that the viewer's eye finds points of interest in different areas of the composition. This is particularly important in a large painting.

At the height of his career, Bierstadt was the most popular landscape painter in America.

Love Interest

Emile Friant, Alone
Alfred Guillou. Farewell
Rowland Wheelwright, The Enchanted Shore

Michael Zeno-Diemer

The German maritime artist Zeno Diemer (who died in 1939) was not afraid to use strong contrasts. His paintings have that typical German precision but are in no way lacking in energy. He is a favourite of mine whose work I've posted before.

The use of a warm colour (red in the ships) acts as a foil to the the cool colours in the waves. Golden yellow in the sky contrasts with the Prussian or Cobalt Blue waves.

Peter Graham

In his depictions of rugged coastlines, the Scottish Painter Peter Graham (1836-1921) made use of strong contrasts between fine detail and expressive brushstrokes, and between white spray and dark rocks. He usually added seabirds which served to integrate these contrasting elements in the composition. he worked on a large scale, to convey the awesome grandeur of his settings.

Victorian Kids and the Sea

Alma-Tadema, The Inundation of the Biesbosch in 1421.
Sir Edward Poynter 1836-1919, Outward Bound, Tate Gallery.

Sir John Everett Millais, 1829-1896, The Boyhood of Raleigh.
Charles W Nicholls.

The Quality of Mystery

Oswald Achenbach, Fishermen

The two light sources in this 19th century work are the moon and a torch held by one of the fishermen. The warm light of the torch helps bring the foreground of the scene forward, while the cool, silver lunar light, filtered through the smoke of a smouldering volcano (Vesuvius perhaps), makes the background recede. 

The artist has chosen to conceal both these light sources, imbuing the painting with an engaging sense of mystery; a quality that seems to have been aimed for in the 19th century but is often neglected in these days of sound bites and instant information.

The equilibrium of a square format helps create a mood of tranquility.

Achenbach (2 February 1827 – 1 February 1905) was a German landscape painter. Born in Düsseldorf, he received his art education from his brother, Andreas Achenbach. His landscapes generally dwell on the rich and glowing effects of color which drew him to the Bay of Naples and the neighborhood of Rome.

Tranquillity

Two Ladies in a Rowboat, 38 x 28 inches

Alfred Thomas Bircher (1837-1908) was a luminist and one of the last painters of the Hudson River School, one of the best-known schools in American art. With the advent of Modernism, the luminist style - and landscape painting in general - fell out of favor; however, in more recent times Bricher's work has seen a revival, and he is now recognised as one of the foremost marine painters of the 19th century.

While storm-whipped waves provide a seascape with drama, the more tranquil moods of the sea give scope for the luminist exploration of light reflecting on the surface of water.
Bricher painted many of these calm, reflective coastal scenes. He often contrasts the smooth, mirror-like surface of the water with rugged cliffs and highly textured clouds. 

As a lover of maritime life and the sea he purchased a home in the 1890s close to the sea in the New Dorp section of Staten Island where he had views of the Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay. He lived and painted at the shore in New Dorp until his death in 1908.

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