Effet coucher de soleil: le rivage à Trouville (c.1866)

Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877)

Effet coucher de soleil: le rivage à Trouville (Sunset Effect: The Shore at Trouville)
c.1866
Oil on canvas, 71.1 x 101.6 cm
Wadsworth AtheneumHartford

In the mid-1860s, Courbet visited the fashionable resort of Trouville on the Normandy coast, where he produced a number of seascapes. This is one of the largest, and also one of the most fresh and luminous. In his typical fashion, Courbet used both a brush and a palette knife to apply the paint, giving the work a distinct textural quality. The technique also adds intensity to the impression of the rugged shore, enormous sky, and endless horizon. Courbet is judged among the most important artists of nineteenth century France, both for his heroic figure paintings and his bold landscapes. (WA)

See also:

• Trouville-sur-Mer (France)