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Coastal Landscape

Peder Balke Norwegian
1860s
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In the 1860s, Balke developed a radical simplification of form and a directness in the way he applied paint to the support. In this hallucinatory view, a ghostly mountain rises through clouds and mist, its base entirely obscured by dense fog. The rocks and surf are rendered with slightly more bodied paint. The white ground layer is visible throughout the composition. There are few, if any, parallels to this painting among the works of Balke’s contemporaries in Norway or elsewhere in Europe.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Coastal Landscape
  • Artist: Peder Balke (Norwegian, Helgøya, Nes 1804–1887 Oslo (Kristiania))
  • Date: 1860s
  • Medium: Oil on paper, laid down on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 9 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (24 × 19 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Hearn Family Trust
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings