Gustave Courbet

Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 5, 1962, lot 18, illustrated
Wurmser Collection, Switzerland (in 1965)
E. W. Thaw & Co., New York (in 1972)
American Private Collection
Thence by descent

London, Roland, Browse and Delbanco, Géricault to Courbet, a new look at the period, May 26-June 28, 1965
Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Monet & Bazille: A Collaboration, February 23-May 16, 1999, no. 19

Kermit Swiler Champa, "A Complicated Codependence," Monet & Bazille: A Collaboration, exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, p. 86, no. 19, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has an old English glue lining. The cracking seems to be held in place and the paint layer is healthy. When painting with a palette knife the natural texture of the paint tends to get flattened out and although there is some texture in the white caps in the waves, the smoothness in the sky seems to be original. Nonetheless, when one paints with a palette knife there is often evidence left of the ground color which shows through, as is visible in the upper right. In the upper left there are retouches which have been applied to reduce this same kind of original and intentional staining. There are a few other spots of restoration, some in the water to the left of the row boat which were also most likely applied for cosmetic reasons. The only legitimate damage is in the center of the right side in the lower sky where there seems to be a small paint loss. The condition of this painting generally is very good. Removing any restorations which do not attend to real damage is an appropriate approach with Courbet, in order to see his own particular vision, but the painting could also be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Courbet's "sea landscapes," as he liked to call them, capture the ever-changing scenery of the majestic sea – ranging from its calm waters at low tide, to dark, swollen waves as they crash to shore during a storm. The majority of Courbet's seascapes date from two trips he made to the Normandy Coast, in 1865 and 1869.  During each sojourn the sea provided the perfect vehicle for Courbet to demonstrate such a virtuosity of technique that it would not be farfetched to compare the pebbled shores and frothy waves of his Normandy scenes to the rocks and crags of his well-known Franche-Comté landscapes.

While it is difficult to positively date our picture, the agitation of the sea as it rolls to shore is more akin to Courbet's seascapes in 1869; his earlier marine scenes tended to be more focused on the calm waters of the sea at low tide.  One of the remarkable aspects of Courbet's treatment of marine subjects is in his ability to chronicle such a vast variety of maritime conditions at different times of day.  While at a cursory glance they, like the sea, may appear uniform, the viewer is often rewarded with a multitude of subtle distinctions that assure no two are alike.

Our painting takes place at sunset, under a coral-hued evening sky, as the sun sets on the horizon.  The depiction of the horizon line is one of the most subtle and beautiful features of the composition.  Courbet has drawn a long horizontal band of pale green, which separates the sky from the water, a feature that draws the viewer's eye towards the infinity of the sea.  A series of overlapping waves roll to shore, their cresting identified by quick – almost dry - strokes of white paint which, considered out of the present context, could easily pass for the snow in Courbet's winter scenes. The rocky shoreline is painted with a build up of rapidly executed brushwork in a palette of beiges and browns, with touches of black and pale pink.  A solitary rowboat has been pulled up on shore barely beyond the reach of the tide.

Courbet's painting expresses a mood of solitude and quiet.  He has observed and captured that short-lived moment between sunset and darkness, as fleeting a moment as the cresting of a wave, as it breaks, disappears and rolls back out to sea.