Mother and Child by the Sea

Johan Christian Dahl

1830 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Writing to the first owner of this painting, Dahl identified the figures on the shore as the wife and child of a fisherman on the approaching boat. While the picture enjoys a rapport with themes explored by his fellow artist and neighbor, Friedrich, its subject may have held deeply personal resonance for Dahl: his father was a fisherman, and two of his own children died in the year prior to the completion of this work.

Artist

Johan Christian Dahl

Date

1830

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2007