Boelgen 

Theodor Severin Kittelsen made this monochromatic artwork with chalk. What strikes you is its formidable composition, the heavy rocks on the lower register provide a sturdy foreground to the turbulent sea. Notice how the artist uses horizontal lines to portray the sky and the incoming wave. The horizontal arrangement gives the composition a sense of depth, but also one of compression. This effect is enhanced through tonal control, building up dense areas of dark chalk, thus providing depth and volume. Kittelsen’s formal arrangement creates a sense of foreboding. The artist renders an unstable environment through the interplay between the wave, the sea foam, and the sturdy rocks. One can see a parallel between the romanticism of sublime natural forces and existentialist philosophy. In its aesthetics of awe, the artwork destabilizes established meanings, and categories and hints at the human condition and nature's indifference.