Surf on Rocks 1890s

Editor: Here we have William Trost Richards’s "Surf on Rocks," painted sometime in the 1890s using oil paints. The scene is dominated by powerful waves crashing against the rocks. It feels turbulent, a little bit ominous, honestly. What strikes you most about it? Curator: The overwhelming movement in this painting speaks volumes. Consider the wave itself as a symbol. Across cultures, water can signify purification, chaos, or the unconscious mind. Here, the roiling sea, caught mid-crash, what do you think it might represent in this cultural memory, especially as Richards painted it? Editor: I guess the power of nature, maybe? Or the insignificance of humans against that backdrop. Curator: Exactly! And think of the specific symbolism of the ocean. For centuries, the ocean has been both a source of life and a metaphor for the unknown, the dangerous, and the infinite. The *sublime,* if you will. This seascape participates in that long visual tradition, calling upon our collective, perhaps even primal, understanding. Do you think that luminism serves as a psychological device in play here? Editor: That's a good point. It sort of makes the scene serene and terrifying simultaneously. What else can we learn about Richards here? Curator: The almost photographic detail applied through luminism, it pulls you into that shared psychological place: a respect and concern, and perhaps anxiety over the power of nature. Editor: This painting is more layered than I first realized! Curator: It truly uses a shared, historical memory to get its message across to people.