Sea

Majestic and tyrannical, the sea has never ceased to fascinate artists. Untameable, this force of nature seems to have a life of its own and has inspired many artists. Since antiquity, the sea has been represented in all its glory, century after century it is honoured through various styles and colours. However, this desire to escape to the great outdoors is certainly not only reserved for 21st century painters

Maritime art began at the same time as history painting - in the 15th century, and they share many common traits. Maritime painting mostly depicts scenes of combat, historical incidents and mythology where people play a crucial role. It wasn't until the 17th century that artists stopped depicting people in their seascapes and focused solely on the representation of the landscape itself instead.

In the Middle Ages, shipwrecks and storms terrorised citizens as they interpreted them as signs of God's wrath. he church even used images of the rough sea to hold power over its believers.

Representations in classical painting were strictly governed by academic rules, and often didn't manage to convey true emotion. Maritime scenes joined the mainstream in the 19th century, especially with the arrival of the Romantic period as emotions played a much greater role in marine painting. The two great masters of the period were J.M.W Turner and Caspar David Friedrich who captured the attention of their contemporaries and whose works continue to mesmerise us today.

For the impressionists, the sea was a sublimation of nature. During the 19th century, artists come out of their studios in order to paint and describe nature as they saw and feel it. By the end of the 19th century, the sea was no longer a simple, blue expanse but rather an eruption of emotions illuminated through painting.

Contemporary art offers a new insight into creation. Today, the technique is overrun by the message and intention of the work. Therefore, we find all varieties of sea illustrations where the sea becomes an image of contemporary creation. Even though the sea is sometimes reinvented, it remains true to reality.

The new generation of contemporary artists create works that depict freshness, escape, lost coves, waves, and that salty seaside air. Discover our selection inspired by ocean waters.

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Sea

Pasage Mar 2

Ce rêve bleu - Série paysage marin graphique

Paysage de bord de mer

Late Art Deco Period Cubist Nautical Harbour Scene

Pêcheurs le long de la Côte

The Blue of Sea Kefalonia Collection

Terrace on the sea stacks vertical version - Capri Italy painting & frame

Into the Waves, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Paysage lacustre

L'île

Vue du port

Sueños adolescentes

Route côtière du sud avec cèdres et pins

Baie de Naples et vue sur le Vésuve

Au de la des yeux

Pêcheurs à la marée basse

Coral I

Equinoxes #23

Water and boat 03

And the Sea will be there 10

Crystal Springs

Alessandro Puccinelli - Mare #335

Melting Paradise

Breaching Whale

Southwold Pier, Suffolk

Quiet Moon

Mer d'huile

Ecologia Profonda, Selfportrait

Descente sur la plage

Capri

Scogliera 2

Sea Side Sun Set

Roulotte en bord de mer

Le surfer solitaire

L'homme et la mer

Untiled

Terrace with flowers - Amalfi seaside & frame

Sortie en mer

Orange on the coast

Old terrace with flowers - Amalfi Italy painting

Espuma

The gulf in bloom - Sorrento painting

Lights on the coast - Italy painting

View of the gulf - Sorrento (Italy)

The big jump

Abysses lumineux

Full of colours view - Positano Italy painting

Swirling Sky

Le Phare

Méditerranée

Water's Edge

Reflets de mer

Heteroscedasticity 03 (giclee print)

Sea

Spülsäume

Sports nautiques pointe d'Esny 01

Brume matinale

Deauville

Life comes at us in waves

Le fracas des vagues

Landscape painting, impasto modern art

Melodies de l'océan

A bird

Carpe diem

Marée basse à Langrune 2

Méditation marine