Artwork
Rocks and Breaking Waves
Rocks and Breaking Waves is a gouache drawing by the Impressionist artist William Trost Richards. It dates from 1874 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Markings
- Marked:stamped upper right verso in black ink: 232
About this work
Overview
Rocks and Breaking Waves is a drawing executed in watercolor and gouache on tan wove paper, attributed to American artist William Trost Richards and dated to around 1874. The work depicts a coastal scene where rugged rocks confront the motion of surf, illustrating Richards’s interest in naturalistic marine subjects.
Technique & Style
The piece combines the fluid transparency of watercolor with the opacity of gouache, allowing the artist to render both the delicate translucency of sea spray and the solid mass of stone. The tan wove paper provides a warm, neutral ground that enhances the subtle tonal variations characteristic of Richards’s meticulous observation of light and texture.
History & Provenance
Created in the mid‑1870s, the drawing reflects Richards’s mature period of landscape production, during which he focused on the Atlantic coastline. While specific ownership records are not detailed, the work has been catalogued as part of the artist’s oeuvre and is recognized as an example of his marine studies from that era.
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