Impressionism and the Sea

The impressionists were forever inspired by the sea. The movement's penchant for plein air painting and its characteristic style, with delicate brushstrokes and incomparable color palettes, was perfectly suited to portrayals of the sea and its perpetual movement, from gently rippling waves to tempestuous storms. Capturing the natural beauty of coastal landscapes and the delicate play of light on water, this volume illuminates the works of Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, Eugène Boudin, Paul Signac, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and more, taking readers on a journey along shorelines and beaches-from the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, to the Mediterranean Sea, to Tahiti-to discover all aspects of nautical and seaside life in the nineteenth century.