Cliffs by the Sea at Cézembre, Brittany
1830
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1830
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Cliffs by the Sea at Cézembre, Brittany is a 1830 by Eugène Isabey, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see jagged cliffs dropping into churning waves under a stormy sky. A few tiny figures stand at the edge, dwarfed by the rocks. Isabey painted this outside, on the windy coast of Brittany. He was one of the first French artists to work *en plein air*—sketching and painting right in front of the scene instead of in a studio. The quick brushstrokes make the waves feel alive. To see how light dances on water, look up *impasto*.
