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Claude Monet
French, 1840–1926
Seascape, Storm
1866
Monet experimented with technique in this early seascape, using subdued colors and applying paint in broad strokes, sometimes with a palette knife. The composition is simple—the horizon line divides the canvas into bands of sea and sky, interrupted by the sailboat positioned slightly off center, its flag flapping in the wind. While many of Monet’s seascapes are sunlit scenes, this painting emphasizes dark skies, deep shadows, and choppy waves. Having grown up on the Normandy coast, the artist was familiar with the sea’s appearance in different atmospheric conditions.
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
19 3/16 x 25 7/16 in. (48.7 x 64.6 cm)
Frame: 27 x 33 1/4 x 2 1/2 in. (68.6 x 84.5 x 6.4 cm)
Object Number
1955.561
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
On View
Image Caption
Claude Monet, Seascape, Storm, 1866, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.561
Select Bibliography
Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman. Nineteenth-century Art in the Norton Simon Museum. New Haven: Published for The Norton Simon Art Foundation by Yale University Press. 2006.
Murphy, Alexandra. "Monet in Normandia e Bretagna." In Monet: I luoghi della pittura. Exhibition catalogue. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2001.
Hamilton, Vivien. Millet to Matisse. New Haven and London: Yale Univeristy Press in association with Glasgow Museums. 2002:Ill. 49 p. 44.
Glasgow.. International Exhibition.. 1901..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956.
Cunningham, Charles C., Susan D. Peters, and Kathleen Zimmerer. Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Siméon. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1977.
Brooks, John H. Monet in Massachusetts. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1985.
Harris, Jean C., Steve Kern, and Bill Stern. Lasting Impressions: French and American Impressionism from New England Museums. Exhibition catalogue. Springfield, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.. Origins of Impressionism. Sept. 19, 1994-Jan. 8, 1995; Grand Palais, Paris, April 19-Aug. 8, 1994.. 1994..
Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie. Claude Monet, March 14- June 16, 1996 (Cat. by Stephan Koja). Prestel Verlag. 1996.
D. S. MacColl.. Nineteenth Century Art.. Glasgow: James Maclenose & Sons.. 1902..
Jean René.. L'art français à Sainte Petersbourg.. Paris: Goupil et Cie.. 1912..
Couglas Cooper.. Courtauld Collection.. London: University of London Press.. 1954..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1963.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972.
Brooks, John H. Highlights: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1981.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984.
John House.. Monet: Nature into Art.. London: Yale University Press.. 1986..
Michael Howard.. Monet.. London: Bison Books.. 1989..
Richard Kendall, ed.. Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters.. London: Macdonald Orbis.. 1989..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996.
Shimada, Norio and Keiko Sakagami. Claude Monet, Vol. 1. Japan Educational Center for Art, 2001.
Wildenstein, Daniel. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. 5 volumes. Lausanne & Paris: La Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974-1991.
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet: Catalogue Raisonné, 4 vols. (in English, French, German).. Wildenstein Institute and Paris: Taschen France and Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag.. 1996.
Wilson-Bareau, Juliet and David Degener. Manet and the Sea. Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 20, 2003-Jan. 19, 2004; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Feb. 15- May 30, 2004; Van Gogh Museum, June 18- Oct. 10, 2004. Philadelphia Museum of Art. 2003.
Ganz, James and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Royal Academy, London, March 17- June 10, 2007; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 24- September 16, 2007. 2007.
Fowle, Frances, ed. Monet and French Landscapes: Vétheuil and Normandy. National Galleries of scotland in association with the Visual Arts research Institute, Edinburgh. 2006.
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.
Melikian, Souren. "A Unique and Unforgettable Collection." International Herald Tribune, 16–17 September 2000.
[Possibly Alexander Reid, Glasgow, sold to Bain];¹ Andrew Bain, Glasgow (by 1901); Étienne Moreau-Nélaton, Paris, sold to Durand-Ruel, 22 May 1906; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1906–12, sold to Frankfurter Kunstverein, 31 Aug. 1912; Provenance given in letter from Durand-Ruel, 4 Apr. 2005, in the Clark’s curatorial file.]; Frankfurter Kunstverein (from 1912); possibly D. S. MacColl, Glasgow; [Fine Arts Associates, New York, sold to Knoedler, Oct. 1950]; [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 7 Nov. 1950]; Robert Sterling Clark (1950–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
1. Douglas Cooper includes the Clark painting in a list of works that “may indeed have been bought from Reid.” See Douglas Cooper, The Courtauld Collection, pp. 64–65. Similarly, Frances Fowle also speculates that the painting “could conceivably have come from the exhibition of French paintings Reid held at La Société des Beaux Arts in December of 1898.” See Frances Fowle, "Vincent's Scottish Twin: The Glasgow Art Dealer Alexander Reid," Van Gogh Museum Journal, p. 99.
2. Provenance given in letter from Durand-Ruel, 4 Apr. 2005, in the Clark’s curatorial file.
