John William Waterhouse - English

Ulysses and the Sirens, 1891

Tristan and Isolde

The Mermaid

Danae

Miranda

Waterhouse was the last of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, sometimes called 'the modern Pre-Raphaelite'. His work differs from that of the earlier PR painters as he picked up some of the techniques of the Impressionists, and his brushwork is more painterly. Last year there was a large retrospective exhibition of his work that travelled to galleries in the Netherlands, the UK, and Canada.

William Dodds - Australian

40 x 50 cm

The backdrop of the void sky (perhaps a dark curtain of rain offshore), and the stage-like beach, highlight the drama of the collision of rock and wave. Seascape artists often darken and simplify skies in order to put the waves in the limelight. Similarly, in still life painting, a plain, low key, neutral background is generally used to bring out the subject. Here, the surf has been given an almost mystical quality.

Lisa Adams - Australian

Sea Study, 41 x 68 cm

Drift, 33 x 61 cm

Lisa is not specifically a marine artist; she does meticulous, enigmatic, slightly surreal landscapes.
She is represented by philip bacon galleries , Brisbane, Australia.

Max Roeder, German 1866-1947

Iphigenie, 100 x 125cm

This work, by the symbolist painter, Max Roeder, combines receding horizontal and vertical lines - waves and clefts in the cliffs. The white figure looking out to sea seems to be echoed in negative in the shadowy sea cave.

Norman Ackroyd - British

Great Blasket, Etching, 20 x 19 cm


Aran

Study of Sun and Rain, Skellig Rock

These are etchings, not oil paintings, but they are a good example of the importance of abstract, poetic qualities, and mood, in seascape painting, rather than mere literal representation. The Judd Waugh oil painting on the side bar to the right, also shows that a limited palette, almost monochrome, can make a very strong image.

Rick Amor - Australian 1948-

Seascape

Fire Across the Bay

It's an interesting idea to complement the water element with fire.

Journey, 2007, 116 x 130 cm

Journey is now on display in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. A photo doesn't give much indication of what it's like standing in front of this large, highly glazed painting. It reminded me of old European paintings that have darkened with age and become deep, mysterious and like the twilight world of dreams.

Washington Allston - American 1779–1843

Rising of a Thunderstorm at Sea, 1804

97.15 x 129.54 cm

Attributed to Allston

The white plume of spray is used to set off the figures.

Tim Storrier - Australian, born 1949

Wreath, Claus Bergen - German

 

Tim Storrier, The Wave (& Garland) 1998,

Acrylic on canvas, 183 x 304.7 cm

Storrier's painting of a garland floating on an empty sea is very similar to an oil by the German painter Claus Bergen showing a wreath commemorating the loss of lives during a naval battle. Bergen was a marine and landscape painter who was sympathetic to the Nazis, unfortunately. In Bergen's composition the clouds take the form of a garland or wreath, echoing the subject.

It is an image that communicates a sense of loss in a very simple way.

Storrier's canvas is huge and must have enormous power.

Tim Storrier, Pacific Swell(?)

John William Waterhouse - English

The Sirens

Arnold Bocklin - Swiss

(See more Bocklin in the landscape blog)