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Seascape

Rodolphe Bresdin

1855

ink

paper

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Romanticism Early 19th Century Marine

Dominant colour

Seascape is a 1855 ink by Rodolphe Bresdin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Rodolphe Bresdin
When & what style?: 1855 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This sketch shows a stormy sea with three big ships struggling in rough waves. On the shore, a city with tall, spiky buildings and domes looms in the background. People and horses move in a hurry near the water’s edge, while the sky swirls with dark, chaotic lines. The artist used lots of tiny crisscrossed lines to show depth and texture—almost like scribbling over scribbling. This was a common trick in the 1800s to make shadows and movement feel real. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists build drama with just pen and ink.