Andreas Achenbach - Stormy Sea at Evening

Although the artist painted this early work when he was just 21 years old, he was then already highly esteemed. For example, his work "Seesturm an der schwedischen Küste" was purchased by King Ludwig I of Bavaria in the same year that this work was made, whilst the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt bought one of his maritime paintings just a year later. The present work is characterised by a fascinating contrast between the dark, roaring waves in the foreground and the golden yellow of the sunset. A sinking ship is depicted faintly in the background of the work, a motif which Achenbach was to explore numerous times in this phase of his oeuvre.