Realism in France

Gustave Courbet

The Wave

1869–70

Oil on canvas, 65.6 × 92.4 cm. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

A wave breaks under a stormy sky on the Normandy coast near Étretat.

• The Städel says he painted the scene about sixty times between 1865 and 1870.
• Look at the thick paint of the foam against the dark water.
• Sea and weather alone, with no figures or story, are the whole subject.

Image: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main · Public domain