Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The North Cape
Peder Balke Norwegian
Not on view
This is one of Balke’s largest easel paintings, and it is certainly among his most accomplished and sophisticated works made in a descriptive, naturalistic style. The view is animated by the rough waves and sea-sculpted rocks, the majestic forms of the clouds, the arc of seabirds, and the sunrise. The rich but delicate brushwork does not compete with these details for the viewer’s attention, as the more prominent facture does in paintings Balke made soon after. Although this is a singular picture within Balke’s oeuvre, the circumstances of its execution and reception remain unknown.
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