back
Sea in arts 🌊
Mysterious, dangerous, soothing or sublime, the sea is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists. Until the 19th century, it was a world that often evoked fear. Storms, shipwrecks and abysses formed the backdrop to a rich artistic output. Then, from the 1850s onwards, a change took place. Fascination overcame the terror of the open sea. Embark on an artistic voyage that combines mythological tales, romantic explorations and contemporary views of maritime issues. Ready to weigh anchor? ⚓

The age of Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries, and it focused mainly on the power of human intelligence to explain the natural world. Romanticism emerged as a response to the cold science of the Enlightenment, with Romantics maintaining that art emerges from divine inspiration, and the artist’s role is as the mediator between the creative and the divine. The romantic age was characterised by a sense of drama and by the sublime spirit, a philosophical tradition, where a power or a force, an event or even beauty is so overwhelming, so awe inspiring and infinite, that it is beyond our comprehension. Nature, wild and uncontrolled became a major subject and the focus shifted to reconnecting with emotion and spirituality. The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich is a perfect embodiment of these ideas.

Content produced by : Great Art Explained

On the agenda
video - 15:07
The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich
By: Great Art Explained
podcast - 8:54
The Great Wave
By: A Long Look
video - 4:05
Friedrich, Monk by the Sea
By: SmartHistory
video - 5:08
The Monk by the Sea
By: Shawn Grenier | The Canvas
video - 3:08
Breaking Waves
By: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
video - 4:04
Waves of Matsushima
By: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
video - 6:30
Hiroshi Sugimoto – “The Stormy Sea” by Gustave Courbet
By: Musée d'Orsay
podcast - 9:55
On the Coast of New Jersey by William Trost Richards
By: A Long Look