William Robinson - Australian

Seascape with Morning Star, 110 x 246 cm

I like the way the view of the sea has been contained, as if in a glass.

William Robinson stylises the landscape, tiliting and gently distorting elements to give a dreamlike effect.

The huge scale of his canvases evokes a sense of the monumental.

Alexei Vasilievitch Hanzen - Russian

Seascape, c. 1930

Louis Auguste Lepere - French 1849-1918

Falaises au bord de la mer
(Cliffs by the Sea)
102 x 76 cm

This work looks as though it may have faded substantially, but the calm neutral tones produce a kind of timeless monumentality, and the sculptural arrangement of cliffs enclosing a small area of seawater is fascinating. Massing - the design of abstract shapes of light and shadow - is what characterises the great paintings of the old masters, not just deft brushwork or high quality hand-ground oils (indeed, this painting may have deteriorated due to having been painted with unstable pigments).

Seascape painting, like the still life genre, has been diminished in the public imagination because of an excess of cliched compositions. It's refreshing to see seascape painters who have looked beyond the obvious views of sand and waves for something that has interesting abstract design qualities. This is not to say that there are not original compositions of sand and waves to be found.

Eric Joyner - American

Out to Sea, 22 x 33 inches

Eric Joyner is known for depicting a surreal world of animate toys and giant donuts.

Donald Demers - American

By the Morning Surf, 12 x 18 inches

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The main centre of interest - the white foam catching the morning light - is situated at a Golden Mean sweet spot.

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Source: http://donalddemers.com/

Images copyright Donald Demers

Don Hatfield - American

Treasure Found, 24 x 36 inches

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Contemporary impressionism. Lovely opalescent colours.

William Clarkson Stanfield - British 1793-1867

On the Dogger Bank

Eric Hudson 1864-1932

Fishing Boats, Monhegan, 28 x 34 inches

Light tones over a dark underpainting.

William Bradford 1823-1892

Redbay, Labrador, 7 x 14 inches

The unusual orange sky complements the blues. An elaborate frame needs a plain inner frame to give the image breathing space.

Edward Moran

Schooners off Baltimore Shore, 18 x 36 inches

Jeff Weaver

On the Fishing Grounds

Clay Wagstaff

Ocean No 23, 36 x 80 inches

James O'Neil

Hand Liner, 12 x 16 inches, acrylic on panel

Pointillism

Russ Kramer - American

A Desperate Battle

Albert Lynch

George Elmer Browne - American 1871-1946

Fishing Fleet, 40 x 50 inches

John Hollis Kaufmann

Sea Change

Vilhelm Melbye

Shipping off Gibraltar

detail

Konstantinos Maleas - Greek

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Love the simplicity, and the turquoise shades, in this work.

Gustav Klimt, Austrian 1862 1918

Attersee

This is not really marine art - the Atter-see is a large lake, not salt water (German 'see' is not exactly the same as English 'sea'). But then Klimt can't be blamed for living in a landlocked country. A great evocation of an expanse of water through minimalist composition in a square format.

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Island in the Attersee

If you are on to a great idea - do another version of it.

Robert W Wood, English American

South Laguna, 24 x 48 inches


Tumbling Surf

David Gallup - American

Fading Light, 30 x 30 inches

Leaving the sky out of the composition gives an abstract quality.

The addition of flying birds breathes air into the painting.

Charles H Gifford American 1839-1904

Coastal View at Sunset, 8.5 x 6 inches



detail

As discussed in earlier posts, the small ship in the distance, though seemingly insignificant, is critical to the composition.

Emil Gruppe - American 1900-1976

Cresting Waves, 10 x 14 inches

Apparently, Gruppe did 100's of small oil sketches of the sea.

Russian

Fernando Cueto Amorsolo

Jean-Baptiste Olive

Soleil Couchant

Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraten

Storm at Sea

Hans Dahl - Norwegian 1849-1937

A Norwegian Fishingboat near Bergen

Anton Otto Fischer, German American

Man Overboard, 24 x 36 inches

Harpooning a Whale

Frederick Judd Waugh - American

Breaking Waves Along a Rocky Coast, 26.5 x 37.5 inches

Claude Monet - French

Belle-Ile, rain effect


Rocks at low tide, Pourville



Point of Rocks at Port-Goulphar

These seascapes by Monet illustrate the point made in the earlier post about the importance of maintaining tonal contrast. While celebrating colour and brushwork, Monet did not eliminate dark darks and white from his palette.

Jeronimus Diest (attributed to)

I love the rhythm established in the clouds.

Montague Dawson

Going with the Wind, Mid-Atlantic, 61.6 x 92.1 cm

detail

The brushwork in the water is wonderfully deft.

Unknown - American

Impressionist brushwork gives vibrancy to this work.

People think of Impressionist painting as being all bright colour, but the Impressionists used white and black (or near black) more than is generally thought. Though full of colour, this work maintains a strong tonal range from the sunlit dunes to the shadows under the tree.

Alexander Young

Watching the Waves on Brighton Beach

Jay Connaway

Claude Joseph Vernet - French

Coastal Scene in a Storm, 1782 (detail)

Anne Packard - American

Green Dory


Fog, 36 x 36 inches