Seaport at Sunset

Seaport at Sunset is a 1639 oil painting by Claude Lorrain which is held today at the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The composition is typical of the artist and features many of the elements found in all his best work.

Claude Lorrain used sunsets and sunrises within his paintings, much more so than had ever been seen before. Light was important to his work and so these extreme moments of the day could provide some enchanting artworks. Many landscape painters who followed on afterwards would heed his advice and did much the same within their own careers. Within Seaport at Sunset we find the sun just above the horizon, bringing much of the scene into shadows, whilst other parts of illuminated with a breathtaking brilliance. In the foreground are a number of figures working on and around the harbour, with some large ships moored on the right hand side. Small fishing boats are allowed closer to the shore and line the opposing bank. Along the left hand side of the painting we are then treated to the architectural talents of the artist, with a good number of beautifully delivered buildings which follow a classical style. The artist spent most of his career in the city of Rome, and that influence can be seen in most of the buildings in this painting.

The artist worked very consistently, and even his mythological and religious artworks would often be constructed in much the same manner, just with a few tweaks to the composition which then incorporated one of those themes within the scene. For example, some of the figures in his foregrounds might relate to a particular passage from the Bible, or instead a poem perhaps. In the case of Seaport at Sunset, though, it is devoid of such a connection and is just delivered for its aesthetic value. Claude mainly produced landscapes within his career, but some of his most famous paintings were actually seascapes such as this. Others examples from his career included The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula and A Seaport at Sunrise. He would exhaust both genres completely, though would leave it to others later on to instill emotion. Claude's style was to depict reality, and then tweak it in the pursuit of perfection, but without necessarily instilling his own emotions into each depiction.

The painting remains in the Louvre in a room specifically devoted to French art from around that period. Although displays can be changed fairly regularly, the work is often seen hanging alongside the likes of Port Scene with the Departure of Ulysses from the Land of the Feaci, also be Claude as well as a portrait by Guido Reni. This gallery remains the best place to learn more about French art and Claude is a worthy addition here, even though he achieved most of his success over in Italy. He was born in Lorrain, which at the time was not actually a part of France, but is today. The Louvre, of course, covers other European art in great detail as well, and Claude offers a link between Italy and France, whilst also influencing a great number of British artists in later centuries.