The Royal Academy of Arts in London is the host of an impressive exhibition dedicated to the relationship between famous Impressionist artists and the sea, a major source of inspiration and place for relaxation for them. The curators have chosen several beach scenes, from the early 1860s to the 1870s, signed by great masters such as Eugene Boudin, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Whistler and others.
It is the first exhibition that tries to explore precisely the origins and the development of the beach scene, a fashionable and commercially successful theme in the 1860s - 1870s and later. The organisers have selected the works with this subject that show the evolution and changes. In the 1880's, for example, artists such as Monet slowly abandoned the depiction of people in favour of capturing on canvas the effects of light and weather at the seaside.
In the 19th century the northern coast of France was the place to be for artists and for those who wanted a special holiday, and several villages became modern resorts, very popular. Starting with the 1820s the coast also became an important subject for French and foreign artists, as they gradually depicted the changes that happened there. At first these representations were Romantic, but in the second half of the century the style and techniques changed, as did the seaside.
The exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts is focusing on the metamorphoses of the sea in the language of Impressionist art.
Photo : royalacademy.org.uk
2007-07-10
