The Wave--from the Sea--after Leonardo, Hokusai, and Courbet

1985

Not on view

In this tripartite composition, Steir vertically stacks quotations from three artists’ images of the sea: Leonardo da Vinci’s pen-and-ink drawing of a whirlpool (1507–9); Hokusai’s "The Great Wave" (ca.　1830−32); and Courbet’s 1869 paintings of waves at Etretat in Normandy. Steir described her ambition to "show people ways of seeing . . . [how] artists see through time and place." She was struck by how these three representations of the ocean from different cultures and centuries somehow "carry the same feeling." Working from reproductions, Steir engaged in an act of translation and comparison that allowed her to consider her own relationship to time and art history.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: The Wave--from the Sea--after Leonardo, Hokusai, and Courbet
Artist: Pat Steir (American, Newark, New Jersey 1940–2026 New York)
Date: 1985
Medium: Drypoint, hardground, aquatint, spitbite aquatint, softground
Dimensions: plate: 35 1/2 x 44 13/16 in. (90.1 x 113.8 cm)
sheet: 42 3/8 x 52 15/16 in. (107.6 x 134.5 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: John B. Turner Fund, 1986
Object Number: 1986.1069.1
Rights and Reproduction: © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Algorithms / Apparitions / Translations, Julie Mehretu American, born Ethiopia, Etching with aquatint, spitbite, softground, hardground, drypoint, engraving, and pochoir — Algorithms / Apparitions / Translations
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Sixteen Waterfalls of Dreams, Memories, and Sentiment, Pat Steir American, Oil on canvas — Sixteen Waterfalls of Dreams, Memories, and Sentiment
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