La Vague, Marseille, ou le Mistral, Marseille (The Wave or the Mistral, Marseille)

ca. 1893

Not on view

Guérard, known for his experimentation as a printmaker, here employed a greenish ink for the churning sea in this view from Marseille. His title "The Wave" is certainly a nod to the celebrated work of Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai, whom he greatly admired. The alternate title conveys that the turbulent waters in this scene are due to the mistral, a bitter northwesterly wind that blows in the south of France between the winter and spring seasons. The island visible in the distance is likely the Ile d’If, a former fortress made famous as a prison in the nineteenth century by Alexandre Dumas père in his popular novel "The Count of Monte-Cristo."

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Catalogue Raisonné

Title: La Vague, Marseille, ou le Mistral, Marseille (The Wave or the Mistral, Marseille)
Artist: Henri Charles Guérard (French, Paris 1846–1897 Paris)
Date: ca. 1893
Medium: Etching and drypoint printed in green ink
Dimensions: image: 12 1/16 x 18 7/16 in. (30.6 x 46.8 cm)
sheet: 18 7/8 x 23 3/4 in. (48 x 60.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1982
Object Number: 1982.1028
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Henri Charles Guérard

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Self-Portrait, Henri Charles Guérard French, Etching with roulette and mezzotint; eighth state of eight — Self-Portrait
Henri Charles Guérard
ca. 1890

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Frontispiece to "Eaux-fortes de Guérard, Collection de Mr. S. P. [Samuel Putnam] Avery, New York", Henri Charles Guérard French, Black chalk — Frontispiece to "Eaux-fortes de Guérard, Collection de Mr. S. P. [Samuel Putnam] Avery, New York"
Henri Charles Guérard
Subject Samuel Putnam Avery Sr.
late 19th century

Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk — Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.