Claude-Joseph Vernet - Calm at a Mediterranean Port [1770]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - Calm at a Mediterranean Port [1770], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In brilliant detail, Claude-Joseph Vernet (Avignon, 1714 - Paris, 1789) captured the gorgeous weather and leisurely activities of a day by the sea. Fishermen clean the day's catch on a stone pier while several people chat nearby, one of them pointing toward the large ship in the bay. Meanwhile, a man sits and smokes his pipe, the tobacco glowing a bright red. A cumulus cloud, perhaps the remnant of a distant storm, towers to the left of the setting sun. Warm tones of yellow, orange and red predominate, suggesting a hazy sunset after a bright day. 

[Getty Centre, Los Angeles - Oil on canvas, 44.5 x 57.375 inches]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Sporting Contest on the Tiber in Rome [1750]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Sporting Contest on the Tiber in Rome [1750], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The Bridge and Castle of Sant' Angelo in Rome are in the background. The jousting contest has not been identified with any particular occasion. Portraits of Vernet and his wife are said to be included in the picture, presumably the elegantly dressed couple on the right in the foreground. In 1745 Vernet had married Carlotta Cecilia Virginia Joachina (born 1728), daughter of Mark Parker, an Irish Catholic living in Rome. Commissioned by the Marquis de Villette in 1749, and one of several pictures by Vernet which he owned. The painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1750.

[Oil on canvas, 99.1 x 135.9 cm]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas [1773]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas [1773], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Vernet was renowned for pairs of paintings showing contrasting states of nature and his works were especially sought-after by British collectors in the 18th-century. This painting and its pendant, A Landscape at Sunset are now the only such pair to be found in a British public collection. The pair originally belonged to the celebrated Englishman Clive of India, who bought them from Vernet in 1773. They are acknowledged as being two of Vernet's greatest marine pictures.

[Oil on canvas, 114.5 x 163.5 cm]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Landscape at Sunset [1773]

Claude-Joseph Vernet - A Landscape at Sunset [1773], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This composition shows a port bathed in glowing evening sunshine. The mood is one of serenity, yet the painting is full of details of activities and the effects of light are rendered with breathtaking delicacy. This painting and its pendant, A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas are now the only such pair to be found in a British public collection. 

[Oil on canvas, 114.5 x 163.5 cm]