The Open Sea

Brett spent the winter of 1865–66 on the Isle of Wight aboard his yacht, the Baby, recording his observations of the sea. In this watercolor, he divides sky from ocean with a bank of low clouds, worked in subtle bands of blue, lavender, and green. One cloud rises above the rest, its apex caught by the sun in an explosion of white. The sea below is a mix of greens, grays, yellows, and blues that blend in layer upon layer of transparent washes, evoking the depths of the water and the rolling movement of the waves (2022).