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The Calm Sea

1869
Not on view
Courbet painted this view looking out over the English Channel during a visit to Étretat along the coast of Normandy in August 1869. The ocean has receded at low tide, and two small boats are left on the shore. The tranquil composition, with its immense sky towering over narrow bands of water and sand, is unusual for Courbet’s marine paintings of this period, dominated by dramatically crashing waves.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Calm Sea
  • Artist: Gustave Courbet (French, Ornans 1819–1877 La Tour-de-Peilz)
  • Date: 1869
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (59.7 x 73 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.566
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Self-Portrait, Gustave Courbet French, Conté crayon
Self-Portrait
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Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie), Gustave Courbet French, Black chalk, stumped
Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie)
Gustave Courbet
1871
Man with Upraised Arm, Possibly a Self-Portrait , Gustave Courbet French, Black and white chalk over graphite on papier bleuté, relined.

Man with Upraised Arm, Possibly a Self-Portrait

Gustave Courbet
ca. 1840
Apples, Gustave Courbet French, Oil on canvas
Apples
Gustave Courbet
A Brook in the Forest, Gustave Courbet French, Oil on canvas
A Brook in the Forest
Gustave Courbet
ca. 1868–77

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