Storm

'A storm. Roaring thunder. Lightning.', wrote Shakespeare. Apocalyptic, infernal, spectacular… any number of words may be used to describe a storm, a force of nature which has become a recurring motif in art. Storms provoke an emotional response almost as strong as their own physical might, and they remind men of their mortality in the uncaring face of the elements. Faced with furious nature in all her glory, all men can do is take shelter and admire her radiant power.  

Since Antiquity the lightning strikes of Zeus and the rages of Neptune have dominated culture and mythology. Since then, there mere mention of the biblical floods are enough to stimulate the imaginations of artists, creating a tradition linking sea and storm. Classical artists also seized upon the imagery of the storm; Rembrandt illustrated a serene Christ facing a heaving ocean. There are echoes of this stoicism in his later Mill, showing an isolated windmill perched on a cliff edge overlooking desolate lands and a brewing sea whilst storm clouds threaten above. Shadow and neutral colours were popular amongst Dutch painters, who used them to magnify the gaze of the viewer. This technique is perhaps most notably used in Rubens paintings of the agitated sea, in which he masterfully communicates the dynamism and power of the ocean through subtle neutral tones. For French painters including Poussin, the storm was a more distant threat, hovering over a deceptively calm countryside. In Asia, the undisputed master of the genre is Hokusai, whose famous Great Wave of Kanagawa symbolises the fragility of man in the face of the force of nature.

In the Belle Epoque, the Romantics took up the image of the hurricane in order to highlight man's grotesque futility in the face of the sublime brutality of nature. The Russian Ivan Aivazovsky made sea storms his trademark, painting huge canvases depicting ships being beaten by fierce waves. A similar motif was found in the work of the British John Martin, whose mystical artworks showed otherworldly vessels in softly luminous colours.

The uncontested master of the storm remains, of course, Turner, whose deft brushwork captured the roaring elements in numerous captivating canvases. His unrelenting lines recreated astounding swirling vortexes, showing great intensity in his brushstrokes nearly one hundred years before the Impressionists popularised such dynamism. The following century brought the rise of Munch, whose vigorous technique was perfectly suited to capturing the fickle fury of storms. In his eponymous canvas he depicted anxious figures facing down such a storm, with the looming threat of the elements serving to mirror their inner turmoil. Across the Atlantic, Charles Burchfield made his name with his canvases in perfect perspective showing omnipresent, brooding storm clouds.

Today, abstract interpretations of storms are becoming more popular by way of extraordinary experimentation with textures, contrasts and colours. More and more artists are carving waves into their thickly applied paints, or lending winds density with subtle use of textiles. In photography, shots of lightning strikes are ever popular, with some aficionados chasing storms across countries to get the perfect shot. Finally, Land Art takes the storm in its most literal sense, letting it erase all trace of the works it sweeps away.

Why not take shelter from the storm amongst our extensive collection of artworks centred around this striking motif?