1869
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
L'Immensité is a 1869 oil by Gustave Courbet, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
A woman stands on a beach. Waves crash behind her. She holds a child’s hand. The sky takes up more space than the land. The waves look almost real. It’s as if Courbet wanted you to feel the ocean’s power. This small painting shows how he could make big scenes feel close. If you like it, look up Courbet, Gustave.
L'Immensité by Gustave Courbet depicts a beach in the foreground with the sea beyond under a cloudy sky featuring purple and orange hues, reflecting the Normandy coastline near Étretat at low tide. Painted in 1869, it exemplifies Courbet's late period, moving away from strict naturalism toward a more expressive interpretation of the landscape. The work belongs to a series of seascapes initiated in 1865, capturing the dynamic interplay of land and sea. Formerly owned by Henri Hecht, it was acquired by Constantine Alexander Ionides in 1883 and later bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (UK: KOOR-bay; US: koor-BAY; French: ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting.
See the richer artist page
