A Sense of Awe and Wonder

Collector's Focus: Marine & Coastlines

Introduction By Chelsea Koressel

Whether standing on a coastline, experiencing the sheer force of the waves crashing on shore, or meandering a marina, watching boats glide gently through still waters, most of us experience a sense of awe and wonder when it comes to the sea. For an artist, it’s about capturing these powerful, emotional moments, so we may carry them with us in our day-to-day. Some artists are simply striving to make sense of their own connection to the great pulse of the ocean or sea.

William Trost Richards (1833-1905), South-West Point, Conanicut, 1878/1879, watercolor and gouache on fibrous brown paper, 33 x 59 in. National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Riggs Parker, honoring their children.

Coming of age during the Hudson River School era, artist William Trost Richards (1833-1905) was known for his landscapes, but eventually turned his focus to scenes of crashing waves and the coastline. “In 1874 he started spending summers in Newport, Rhode Island, and eventually he built a home on a cliff overlooking the ocean,” notes the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. “He also frequently visited the rocky coast of southwest England, devoting the final decades of his career almost exclusively to seascape painting.”

Ken Johnson with the New York Times,wrote, “William Trost Richards had a thing about ocean waves. He would wade in among them or stand on the beach, studying them for hours, ‘until people thought he was insane,’ one of his children recalled. He was not crazy, though. He was an American Pre-Raphaelite, a follower of the English critic John Ruskin’s dictum of artistic truth to nature, the achievement of which should brook no compromise. The payoff for Richards’s observational extremism came in the form of landscape and maritime paintings and drawings of arresting, nearly photorealistic intensity…”

Top: Kathleen Hudson, Last Light of Day, oil, 18 x 24 in. Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, Golden Hour, mixed media, 36 x 36 in., by Sonny Craig Guřulé. Bottom: Kathleen Hudson, Breaker at Sunset, oil, 24 x 48 in.

In a recent exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection, we find a gorgeous example of Richards’ ability to capture the raw coastline. “Richards painted this dramatic Rhode Island seascape with great care, building up the image with many small brushstrokes of opaque watercolor (gouache) on the tan-colored paper,” says Amy Johnston, curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. “His choices add up to an overcast view of the cliffs of Conanicut Island which appears very realistic.” Johnston cites this piece as one of the most significant works in the exhibition, it being one of the largest American watercolors made in the 19th century.

Top: Nancy J. Balmert, Lone Cypress, oil on linen canvas, 24 x 18 in. Alexandra Tyng, Over Mount Battie, oil on linen, 30 x 60 in. Bottom: Alexandra Tyng, Afternoon Ferry, oil on linen, 24 x 60 in. Nancy J. Balmert, Niagara Falls, oil on linen canvas, 11 x 14 in.

We see this passion for and fascination with the ocean carried into modern times by artists like Kathleen Hudson. Her piece Last Light of Day, a calming sunset view of a sailboat asway on gentle waves, will be on view through July 10 at Cavalier Galleries in New York City, as part of the show Modern Marine Masters: Artwork from the American Society of Marine Artists. “The inspiration came from an older plein air study and a series of reference images from a trip to Mexico over a decade ago,” says the artist. “I remember feeling really inspired to try capturing the glow of the warm sunset colors onsite, but the resulting plein air piece looked a bit oversaturated, and I set it aside. I came across the photos again this spring and opted to revisit the idea. After several years of living in Colorado and painting dramatic Western skies, I’ve sharpened my ability to capture the subtleties I see in clouds—even at sunrise or sunset when the color palette contains more of the spectrum and is harder to balance.”

Hudson also depicts realistic waves, much like Richards, in more energetic works like Breaker at Sunset.The painting shows a swelling wave lit with an impressive swath of light.

Alexandra Tyng, Somesville Harbor, oil on linen, 40 x 62 in. Nancy J. Balmert, The Wave, oil on canvas, 12 x 24 in.

Continue reading the remainder of this special section to hear more about the genre of marine and coastal artworks from the artists who create them.

With a rich history rooted in Laguna Beach’s origins as an art colony, the Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach has long attracted artists inspired by the natural beauty of the region. The breathtaking coastline and stunning beaches of Laguna Beach, California, have provided endless inspiration for generations of artists, shaping the artistic community’s deep connection to the ocean. At the Festival of Arts Fine Art Show, works inspired by the beach come to life through a variety of mediums, alongside a broad range of other artistic genres.

Artists from across the region present their work, offering collectors the chance to purchase from them directly and acquire original, high-quality pieces. Featured here are juried artists Mark Jacobucci, Jeff Horn and Sonny Craig Guřulé.

“Every summer, the festival offers a direct connection between artist, artwork and environment,” says David Perry, Festival of Arts president. “I invite you to experience the extraordinary level of artistry on display this season. Engage directly with the artists, explore the depth and intention behind their work, and discover an original expression of the coast that reflects the highest standards of fine art.” This year’s Festival of Arts Fine Art Showruns from July 7 through September 3.

Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, Shaws Cove, oil, 8 x 10 in., by Mark Jacobucci. Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, Restless Sea, oil, 30 x 40 in., by Jeff Horn.

Nancy J. Balmert has traveled the world with her husband, and loves to paint places they’ve seen. “My paintings remind me of all the places we’ve been, how much I enjoyed being there and how much beauty can be found in the world we live in,” she says. “Typically, I enjoy painting with cool colors, which produce a relaxing effect. Water and skies are typically painted with cool blues and tend to feel refreshing. I often choose my subjects from places that I’ve have been, or someday want to see. When I finally made it to Niagara Falls, I crossed over to the Canadian side to take the photo. Later, I painted it using a palette knife. We’ve also been to the Northern California coast many times. Since I first visited Hearst Castle as a child, it’s always been a favorite place of mine. My Wave and Lone Cypress paintings come from photos I took along the coast on the Monterey Peninsula.”

Drawing from his own experiences surfing, Bryce Elischer’s Afternoon Surfbeautifully captures the scene and feeling of a surfer moments before entering the water, pausing to take in the warm glow of a sunny afternoon while gazing out at the pristine Pacific Ocean. “This artwork encapsulates that fleeting moment of peace and anticipation of taking in the moment before paddling out, breathing in the salty air and the vast expanse of the ocean,” the artist says. “Other surfers in the water paddle around and position themselves to catch the next wave. It’s more than just a painting; it’s an invitation to pause, breathe and connect with the calming rhythm of the sea. Immerse yourself in the scene with the vibrant cool hues of the ocean, contrasting with the warm Southern California afternoon sunlight. Inspired by my time living down in Laguna Beach surfing all over the Orange County coastline, the light and air in Southern California is unique to that region alone, and this painting captures that very special feeling during a sunny afternoon on the beach.”

Bryce Elischer, Afternoon Surf, oil on panel, 16 x 26 in.

Ever since Alexandra Tyng saw Leonardo’s bird’s eye view drawings, she’s been fascinated by aerial views. “From a high vantage point, the shapes of land and cities, rivers and coastlines, and the connections between them, are revealed,” says the artist. “The abstract shapes of buildings and the spaces between them, or shapes made by the interplay of land and water, are more important than the details. Conversely, the special qualities of a particular location are invisible or insignificant from the air but very evident when they are experienced at ground level. I wanted to be like a bird, to fly high above a place and then swoop gradually down until I could alight on a tree branch and observe places from close up. My goal is to create a hierarchy of viewpoints—worlds within worlds.” —