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Marine: The Waterspout

1870
Not on view
Courbet first witnessed a waterspout at Trouville, a village on the Channel Coast, in 1865 or 1866. This dramatic phenomenon, a tornado at sea, occurs when temperature differences in the air create a whirling spiral of wind and water. Courbet first painted the subject in 1866 (Philadelphia Museum of Art). The present picture features the cliffs of Étretat, as does a second, undated version of the composition (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marine: The Waterspout
  • Artist: Gustave Courbet (French, Ornans 1819–1877 La Tour-de-Peilz)
  • Date: 1870
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 27 1/8 x 39 1/4 in. (68.9 x 99.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Horace Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.160.35
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Self-Portrait, Gustave Courbet French, Conté crayon
Self-Portrait
Gustave Courbet
ca. 1866
Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie), Gustave Courbet French, Black chalk, stumped
Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie)
Gustave Courbet
1871
Man with Upraised Arm, Possibly a Self-Portrait , Gustave Courbet French, Black and white chalk over graphite on papier bleuté, relined.

Man with Upraised Arm, Possibly a Self-Portrait

Gustave Courbet
ca. 1840
Apples, Gustave Courbet French, Oil on canvas
Apples
Gustave Courbet
A Brook in the Forest, Gustave Courbet French, Oil on canvas
A Brook in the Forest
Gustave Courbet
ca. 1868–77

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