Marine Art

The sea, seen through
an artist’s eyes.

A journey through
the history of
marine painting.

From painted ships
to light on water.

Ivan Aivazovsky’s Caucasus from the Sea: blue waves, sailing boats and distant mountains beneath a green-grey sky. — IVAN AIVAZOVSKY · CAUCASUS FROM THE SEA · 1899

Marine art shows
more than ships.

Aivazovsky’s painting combines open water, sky, coastline and boats. — IVAN AIVAZOVSKY · 1899

Marine art

The sea, sky and coast.
Ships and people are optional.

Willem van de Velde the Younger’s Dutch Ships in a Calm, showing sailing vessels and people on still water. — WILLEM VAN DE VELDE THE YOUNGER · c. 1660

Maritime art

Often used for art connected
to human life at sea.

Sea imagery has
ancient roots.

c. 3200 BC
Boats on Egyptian pottery.
For centuries
Water as a setting for
religious and historical scenes.
1444
Konrad Witz depicts
the real Lake Geneva.

Konrad Witz’s The Miraculous Draught of Fishes depicts a biblical scene in the recognisable landscape of Lake Geneva. — KONRAD WITZ · THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES · 1444

Dutch artists made marine
painting a genre.

Dutch sailing ships painted in precise detail by Willem van de Velde the Younger. — VAN DE VELDE THE YOUNGER · DUTCH SHIPS IN A CALM

17th-century Holland

Ships and trade inspire a genre.

Vroom & Van de Velde

Pioneering scenes; precise ships.

Bakhuizen

Storms and restless water.

Van de Cappelle

Calm seas and quiet harbors.

British marine art followed
Dutch traditions.

Dutch influence

British painting grows
in the 18th century.

Charles Brooking

Ships, storms and
careful observation.

The Hull school

Ward and Settle paint
fishing and whaling.

Charles Brooking’s Fishing Boats in a Calm Sea, with detailed sails and a low horizon under a broad sky. — CHARLES BROOKING · FISHING BOATS IN A CALM SEA

Romantic painters turned
the sea into emotion.

Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, with a glowing sunset and vessels dissolving into atmospheric light. — THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE · 1839

J. M. W. Turner

Light and atmosphere
transform the scene.

Aivazovsky’s dramatic waves beneath storm clouds in Caucasus from the Sea. — CAUCASUS FROM THE SEA · 1899

Ivan Aivazovsky

Powerful waves express
nature’s drama.

Sailors created
their own art.

Scrimshaw

American whalers carved images
on whale teeth and bones.

Early 1800s

Knives and needles became
tools for making art.

Life at sea, memories of home

Ships, whaling scenes and
personal stories.

Composition and light
create movement.

Turner’s painting annotated with its low horizon and a diagonal leading toward the sunset. — TURNER · THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE · COMPOSITION STUDY

Direction

Diagonals suggest movement.

Space

A low horizon opens the sky.

Light & depth

Warm and cool colors contrast.
Distant forms grow lighter.

Different techniques capture
water and detail.

Glazing

Thin paint layers create
depth and transparency.

Textured strokes

Thicker paint suggests
foam and breaking waves.

Pen painting

Ink on prepared panels
reveals ropes and sails.

Aivazovsky combined quick sketches with memory and imagination.

Marine art combines
observation and imagination.

Observe

Study water, weather and light.

Experiment

Watercolor, oils and alla prima
capture different effects.

Imagine

Turn a changing sea
into a lasting image.

Blue-green waves and distant mountains in Aivazovsky’s marine painting, closing the journey through marine art. — IVAN AIVAZOVSKY · CAUCASUS FROM THE SEA · 1899

Based on the supplied report “What Is Marine Art?”