Paesaggio Costiero 1892

Alfred William Finch painted this coastal landscape with oil on canvas. The scene is built from a dense mosaic of tiny dots of paint, a technique known as pointillism. Finch was born in Belgium. He initially trained as a realist painter, but became interested in Neo-Impressionism. He adopted the style in the late 1880s after moving to Paris, where he joined the avant-garde art scene. Pointillism, with its scientific approach to color and light, was seen by many artists at the time as a progressive style, and a rejection of academic art. Finch eventually became one of the main advocates for the style, taking the technique to new audiences, for example in Finland where he later lived. To understand Finch’s work better, we can consult exhibition catalogues from the period, artists’ letters, and contemporary art criticism. With those resources, we can start to appreciate the ways artists tested the boundaries of social and institutional norms.