Les Saintes Maries de la Mer

Vincent van Gogh painted this seascape during a short trip to the small fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, on France's Mediterranean coast, in the summer of 1888. He had been living in Arles and decided to spend a few days by the sea, where he was struck by the constantly shifting colors of the water. In a letter to his brother Theo, he described how the Mediterranean changed shade from moment to moment, sometimes green, sometimes violet, sometimes blue. You can feel that fascination here in the choppy waves and the way no two patches of water look quite the same.

The little fishing boat in the distance is one of the same kind van Gogh sketched on the beach during this visit. He worked quickly, using thick, energetic brushstrokes that capture the movement of the rolling surf rather than every tiny detail. This loose, expressive way of painting is a hallmark of his Post-Impressionist style, where emotion and color mattered more than careful realism. Notice his signature in red at the bottom left, a small touch that stands out against the cool blues and greens of the sea.