La Trombe (1870)

Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877)

La Trombe (Marine: The Waterspout)
1870
Oil on canvas, 68.9 x 99.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Courbet first witnessed a waterspout at Trouville, a village on the Channel Coast, in 1865 or 1866. This dramatic phenomenon, a tornado at sea, occurs when temperature differences in the air create a whirling spiral of wind and water. Courbet first painted the subject in 1866 (Philadelphia Museum of Art). The present picture features the cliffs of Étretat, as does a second, undated version of the composition (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon). (MET)

See also:

• Étretat (France)