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The Sea

Harbours, beaches and open water, from Dutch ships under heavy cloud to American coasts at midday. Painters went to the sea for its weather as much as its boats, and the shoreline became one of the places where open-air painting was worked out.

24 works · hang 6637 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. Impressionist sea landscape, tan houses, blue ocean, distant mountains.
    The Bay of Marseille, Seen from L'EstaquePaul Cézanne, c. 1885Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Painting of a beach on a cloudy day with several sailboats on the water, a few rowboats on the shore, and two groupings of people on the sand.
    The Beach at Sainte-AdresseClaude Monet, 1867Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)
    After the rain: fishing nets drying on the shoreTraditionally attributed to Li Tang, 1368-1644Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  4. Two Gulls and Cliffs, by Louis M. Eilshemius, ca. 1913-1921
    Two Gulls and CliffsLouis M. Eilshemius, ca. 1913-1921Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Section 1, south wall

  1. On the Beach, No. 3, by Maurice Prendergast, c. 1915–18
    On the Beach, No. 3Maurice Prendergast, c. 1915–18Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Painting of centaur with harp, in water, surrounded by mermaids and mermen.
    In the SeaArnold Böcklin, 1883Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. In the Waves (Dans les Vagues), by Paul Gauguin, 1889
    In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)Paul Gauguin, 1889Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. Water laps at a curving shoreline in front of a steep sandy dune carpeted in grass, shrubs, and trees in this horizontal landscape painting. The dune takes up the lower right quadrant of the composition. A few broken tree trunks are overgrown with vines and plants across the top and down the sloping side of the dune facing us. A red brick wall cuts through the vegetation up the side of the dune and disappears into the shrubbery at the top. The twisting branches and canopies of three large trees reach into the upper right quadrant of the composition. The vegetation stops abruptly along the sheer edge of the dune where it faces the water. The land curves like a backward capital letter C so it almost reaches the left edge of the painting along the horizon, which comes a quarter of the way up the composition. A cow and three more animals, perhaps sheep or more cows, graze or lie on a grassy mound in the distance, and sailboats line the horizon in the deep distance. White ripples swirl in the steel-blue water. The artist signed and dated the lower center, “J Ruisdael . 1648.”
    Dunes by the SeaJacob van Ruisdael, 1648Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Aegean Sea, by Frederic Edwin Church, ca. 1877
    The Aegean SeaFrederic Edwin Church, ca. 1877Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A sage-green harbor teems with more than a dozen sailing ships and rowboats under a pale gray sky in this horizontal painting. The horizon comes about one-fifth of the way up the composition, and dark gray and white clouds tower above. Light filters onto the scene through the clouds from our left to fall across the ships while casting shadows on the water nearest us. Painted in tones of slate gray and warm brown, most of the ships closest to us have their sails furled so the masts and horizontal yard arms bristle against the sky. The larger ships have cannons poking out of square portholes. On our right, a war ship floats with its ornately carved and gilded stern facing us. A flag flying from the tallest of the three masts has red, white, and green stripes. The artist painted his name on that flag, “R. Zeeman.” The ship is tied to a buoy with a length of rope, and an empty rowboat is tethered to the right side of the ship. A similar ship but with the sails hanging loosely is tied to a buoy just beyond this one. A row of pickets, like a fence, extends into the water behind these two ships. To our left, a rowboat full of men has pulled up alongside a partially sunken ship, its masts tilting toward us. A few people stand on two more ships nearby. A black temporary dock floats next to the leftmost ship here. A person mixes something that smokes on the platform, and another person stands on a board lifted halfway up the ship’s side, presumably working on a repair. Two women in another rowboat next to the floating dock lean over the side, washing clothes. Another fence encloses the harbor to our left, and a hut in the middle of the harbor is surrounded by a similar structure. Two rowboats closer to us are filled with men wearing tall hats and black or brown coats, and women wearing black bonnets and white shawls. More sailing ships and rowboats move back or around beyond the harbor, out to sea. Visible cracks cover the surface of the painting.
    Amsterdam Harbor SceneReinier Nooms, called Zeeman, c. 1654/1655Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, north wall

  1. Large marine landscape of boats on rough waves, storm clouds.
    Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for FishJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1837–38Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Bay of New York, Sunset, by Thomas Chambers, mid 19th century
    Bay of New York, SunsetThomas Chambers, mid 19th centuryCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Boats at Berck-sur-Mer, by Édouard Manet, 1873
    Boats at Berck-sur-MerÉdouard Manet, 1873Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. On the Beach, Sunset, by Eugène Boudin, 1865
    On the Beach, SunsetEugène Boudin, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The image shows a landscape with figures near a body of water. There are buildings made of logs, people gathered near a structure, and trees in the background. The style is detailed with precise linework, shading, and hatching. The color palette is monochrome, emphasizing light and shadow.
    Boat at a River Bank with Three GoatsAllart van Everdingen, probably c. 1645/1656Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Stage Fort across Gloucester Harbor, by Fitz Henry Lane, 1862
    Stage Fort across Gloucester HarborFitz Henry Lane, 1862Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art