Point Lobos, Monterey, California 1912

Thomas Moran painted this coastal view of Point Lobos, California, on an unknown date, and it feels like he was really in the zone. The paint handling is so confident, especially in the way he captures the movement of the ocean. Look at how the brushstrokes build up the texture of the rocks and the frothy waves crashing against them. You can almost feel the spray on your face, right? I love how he uses light to create depth and drama, those dark shadows contrasting with the bright highlights. That lone rock in the middle ground? It’s like a defiant exclamation point in the midst of all that wildness. It really embodies the power of nature, but also the act of painting as a way to harness the world. Moran’s work reminds me a little of Turner, that same sense of sublime beauty and awe. And that’s why art keeps evolving through conversations, right? A constant back-and-forth, building upon what’s come before.