Old Seaside Tableaux Marine 1900 Pointe du Raz Brittany Finistère Lighthouse

  

Old painting - Pointe du Raz, Brittany French School Oil on wood, around 1900 Panel dimensions: 22.5 × 15.5 cm - Total dimensions with frame: 26 × 19 cm Probable location: Pointe du Raz, Finistère, Brittany. This oil on wood from the early 20th century intensely captures the wild beauty of Pointe du Raz, an iconic point on the Breton coast. From a steep rocky promontory, the eye plunges towards a choppy sea that crashes into white foam on the rocks. In the distance, standing against the Atlantic's onslaught, a tall lighthouse watches over navigation, probably the Vieille lighthouse, the mythical guardian of this cape. The energetic and thick brushwork, with generous impasto, conveys the vigor of the winds and the instability of the Breton sky.

The muted tones of the rocks blend with the deep greens and purples of the maritime heath, while the shades of azure and gray of the sky and sea reflect the changing light of this wind-battered point. Presented in its small period frame, this painting offers a sensitive testament to the fascination that Pointe du Raz held for artists during the Belle Époque, straddling the line between landscape romanticism and maritime realism. Old painting - Brittany - Finistère - Pointe du Raz - Vieille lighthouse - Belle Époque - oil on wood - choppy sea - seascape - cliff - French painter - early 20th century - storm - maritime painting - Breton cape - Breton art - impasto - impressionist painting.