A Seastorm
Joseph Vernet·1752
Historical Context
A Seastorm from 1752 by Vernet exemplifies the dramatic marine scenes that made him one of the most celebrated painters of the sea in eighteenth-century Europe. Storm paintings satisfied the contemporary taste for the sublime in nature. Vernet's oil technique carefully observed the behavior of light on water and cloud at different times of day and in different weather conditions, building atmospheric effects through careful layering of translucent glazes over solid underpainting.
Technical Analysis
The turbulent seas and dramatic sky are rendered with Vernet's command of atmospheric effects, the violence of the storm conveyed through powerful compositional movement and tonal contrasts.
