Shipwreck - Claude Joseph Vernet (1714 - Paris 1789) Signed And Dated 1786

"Shipwreck on the reef"
Claude Joseph Vernet
(Avignon 1714 - Paris 1789)
signed Vernet and dated 1786
Oil painting on canvas
Period: II ^ half of the '700
Canvas 112 x 60 frame 130 x 77
Excellent conditions

The splendid painting, of great charm and of immediate and spectacular effect, describes an animated shipwreck scene illuminated by a glimpse of blue sky open among the dark clouds after the storm.
The work, of remarkable beauty, highlights all the pictorial, chromatic and descriptive characteristics of the marine landscapes of the great French Master Claude Joseph Vernet, in one of the most representative compositions of him, namely the shipwreck scenes.
His famous representations with the extraordinary and inimitable atmospheric conditions always poised between darkness and light, between calm and storm, express contrasting feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant colors.
The canvas is generously sized and the elongated horizontal shape, favored by the author, allows him to capture a sequence of skits where the castaways are struggling scattered along the cliff. The dark rock face taken against the light with the fort overlooking the sea, contrasts with the dazzling light of the blue sky, and is a peculiar element of his repertoire.
The work is in excellent condition, already perfectly clean and relined with a splendid finely carved and gilded frame.
The pictorial quality of this painting is decidedly of a high standard and, also in consideration of its size, comes close to the finest production in his workshop.
The painting is signed Vernet and dated 1786