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…
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Calm Sea

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819 - 1877)

1866

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 54.1 x 63.9 cm (21 5/16 x 25 3/16 in.) ; framed: 69.9 x 80.3 x 5.1 cm (27 1/2 x 31 5/8 x 2 in.)
Culture
French
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CF
Credit line
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

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