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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Subcategories

Sea

Sundown Symphony

Quiet seaside - Amalfitan Coast painting

Back to basic

Alessandro Puccinelli - Mare #335

Voiliers

Melting Paradise

Composition pour les JO

Ravello sea pointview - Amalfitan Coast painting (Italy) + frame

Sortie en mer

Quiet Moon

DIP (white series)

C'era una volta il mare

Mer d'huile

Pêcheurs à la marée basse

Ecologia Profonda, Selfportrait

Descente sur la plage

Capri

Loulou Cassis

Roulotte en bord de mer

Crystal Springs

Le surfer solitaire

Window on Posillipo - Naples seaside & frame

Primorsko

Southwold Pier, Suffolk

Sur la côte Normande

Untiled

Squirting champagne, Lagoon of Orbetello

Sea Side Sun Set

Orange on the coast

Transcoder - The Secret about Curves

Espuma

Spellbound

Heteroscedasticity 03 (giclee print)

Faille #2

Sea Sponge

Old terrace with flowers - Amalfi Italy painting

Petit rayé

The gulf in bloom - Sorrento painting

Lights on the coast - Italy painting

Pays de l'intemporel

Life Buoy

L1000247 1

With an Eye of Faith (Elephant Island, Antarctica)

The big jump

Window on Amalfi - Italian seaside painting

Full of colours view - Positano Italy painting

Under The Pink Umbrella

And the Sea will be there 10

Abysses lumineux

Neverland

Les Gardiens du son

Mer de glaçons, série Vindur

Islande Jokulsarlon 15

Cityscape late nineteenth century - Venice painting

Méditerranée

Water's Edge

Polka Dots

Plage des Jaunais

Sourire au clair d'un sourire

Aqua Viva #2167

Cudillero

Côte d’Azur

Sur la plage

Reflets de mer

Sea

Un Matin à Madagascar