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Claude Joseph
Vernet, The Shipwreck, 1772, National Gallery of Art, Washington,
Patrons' Permanent Fund and Chester Dale Fund 2000.22.1 |
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In
Vernet’s Shipwreck, lightning spotlights a seaside
town in the far distance and the breaking waves on the near shore.
Vernet often portrayed changing weather and time of day (rain, lightning,
sunsets, and moonlight), filtering light through clouds and mist to create
the superb atmospheric effects for which he was famous. Here the artist
used lively brushwork to create sparkling
spray and
moving clouds; in contrast, the foreground details are precise
and tight—a sailor’s
straining muscles, the blowing
cape, the green
bedroll and trunks, even a frightened
dog.
 
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