The Calm Sea

Gustave Courbet painted this tranquil stretch of the Normandy coast in 1866, and calm is really the word for it. Two little fishing boats sit pulled up on the sand, resting after their work, while out on the horizon a pair of sailboats drift along with the wind. Above them, a wide sky full of pale, puffy clouds fills most of the canvas. Nothing dramatic is going on, and that is exactly what Courbet was after. He simply wanted to hold onto one peaceful moment at the water's edge.

As a leader of the Realism movement, Courbet believed art should show ordinary life as it truly is, rather than dressing it up with myths or heroic stories. During his trips to the Normandy shore he made several seascapes like this one, painting fast to catch the shifting light and shifting weather before they changed again. The way he handled the sky and sea here would later win over the young Impressionists, who studied his methods closely. Honest and unhurried, this is the sort of view that makes for good company on a quiet afternoon by the coast.