The Cliffs of the Island of Møn

The white chalk cliffs of Møn rise sharply against a calm summer sky in this 1842 landscape by Louis Gurlitt. This small Danish island in the Baltic Sea had long attracted painters, and Gurlitt captured its pale stone glowing in the sunshine, with scrubby green bushes clinging to the slopes and the sea fading into gentle blues toward the horizon. A German-Danish artist who worked through the 1800s, Gurlitt loved travel and roamed across Europe searching out scenery worth painting, and Møn clearly earned a place among his favorites.

Belonging to the Romantic tradition, the picture reflects an era when artists were captivated by nature's quiet power. Gurlitt leads the eye on a slow journey from the jagged cliffs and rough vegetation up close, past the sunlit rock, and out to the specks of sailboats dotting the distant water. Nothing dramatic happens here, no crashing waves or looming storm, just a peaceful stretch of coast presented plainly and honestly. The cliffs of Møn are still cherished as one of Denmark's natural treasures, and works like this show why so many artists found them hard to resist.