The Etretat Cliffs after the Storm 1870

Gustave Courbet painted "The Etretat Cliffs after the Storm," a landscape of the French coast, sometime in the 1800s. Courbet, who was deeply engaged with the social and political issues of his time, developed Realism as a way to represent the lives and experiences of everyday people. Here, the cliffs of Étretat, with their imposing scale and rugged texture, evoke a sense of awe and the sublime. The dramatic contrast between light and shadow in this painting might be interpreted as a reflection of the turbulent times in which Courbet lived, marked by political upheaval and social change. Courbet’s choice to focus on the natural world can be seen as a way of grounding himself, and his viewers, in the face of uncertainty. "Painting is essentially a concrete art," Courbet once declared, "and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things." In its depiction of a landscape shaped by the forces of nature, the painting stands as a reminder of the power and fragility of our environment, and our place within it.