Clouds on Canvas

European Artists

Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and son 1875 Claude Monet

French Impressionist artist Claude Monet was among the leading Impressionist artists in the late 19th century. This artwork is among his best-known paintings. It depicts the painter’s wife dressed in a flowing garment with an umbrella to shield from the midday sun. In the background his song Jean can be seen.

View of Toledo El Greco

Spanish artist El Greco was a well-known painter of the Spanish landscape. In this artwork you can see dark clouds forming over Toledo, Spain. This painting can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Study of Clouds John Constable

English artist John Constable began preparation for his landscapes in 1821. He started a study of clouds to capture their fleeting energy. The painter made detailed observations of the weather. When he created his sky studies in oil he depicted clouds with extraordinary accuracy.

Hadleigh Castle, The Mouth of the Thames – Morning after a Stormy Night 1829 John Constable

English artist John Constable captured an amazing cloud cover over castle ruins as an oil on canvas. The dramatic landscape draws the viewer into the artwork.

Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede 1670 Jacob van Ruisdael

Dutch artist Jacob van Ruisdael created this painting in the Netherlands. Wijk bij Duustede is a riverbank town. The painter depicted the windmill as dominating the painting standing near the riverbank and depicting vessels sailing by. Houses can be seen in the surrounding landscape.

Wheat Field with Cypresses 1889 Vincent Van Gogh

Dutch artists Vincent Van Gogh created this artwork as one of three oil paintings. While he was a patient at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole institution at Saint Remy, France he displays all of these paintings between May 1889 and May 1890. The artist created his painting according to what he could see from the windows of the asylum. In this painting you can see rolling hills and mountains with a background of white clouds in an azure sky with a field of golden wheat below. He used colors to make a contrast between the Provencal cypress tree rising to the right and the lighter green olive trees in the middle distance.

Sunrise with Sea Monsters J. M. W. Turner

English artist J.M.W. Turner created this unfinished oil painting depicting a sunrise with a variety of sea creatures. Toward the end of his career the painter created his artwork in the seaside town of Margate in Kent, England. The painting depicts a hazy yellow sunrise over a stormy gray sea. The swirls of pink and crimson are meant to represent sea monsters lurking in the bottom left corner. It can be viewed at the Tate Gallery in London, England.

American Artists

Sky Above Clouds IV Georgia O’Keefe

American modernist artist Georgia O’Keefe finished this gigantic artwork focusing on the theme of clouds. At the beginning of the 1960s the painter began depicting huge endless stretches of cloud cover she had seen from airplane windows in her travels all over the world.

Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast 1870 Albert Bierstadt

German-American artist Albert Bierstadt was a member of the renowned Hudson River School. He created this artwork of the Puget Sound on the Pacific coast. At the time that he painted this oil on canvas he had not yet visited the area that today is the US state of Washington.

Beach Scene Albert Bierstadt

German-American artist Albert Bierstadt was known for his landscapes of the American West. Here he depicts a beach with a huge cloud cover overhead. The painting is mostly drawing the viewers to the clouds in the sky. It is a wonderful combinations of blue sky, white clouds, and the light captured between.

Sunset Across the Hudson Valley Frederic Edwin Church

American landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church studied for two years under English-American artist Thomas Cole at his Catskill studio from 1844 – 1846. The well-known painter taught Church the art of plein-air painting. This artwork shows how Church translated what he had learned about cloud studies. The painting looks toward the southwest across the Hudson River toward Cedar Grove which was artist Thomas Cole’s home and studio. The painting has amazing cloud depiction with a tint of pink as in a sunset.