Sea and Rain

Sea and Rain is a painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The work is a seascape depicting a lone figure standing at the edge of the misty ocean surf during an overcast day. Whistler uses soft brushstrokes and thin layers of paint to create a dreamy atmosphere. The limited palette makes use of only four pigments: cobalt blue, iron-oxide yellow, vermilion, and bone black. Ten years later, Whistler would return to this minimalist style with his series of nocturnes.

The painting was made in the autumn of 1865, in the fishing village of Trouville-sur-Mer, between October and November. Whistler worked alongside fellow realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) at a beach resort in Trouville, with his partner Joanna Hiffernan accompanying him on the trip. By this time, Whistler had begun to move beyond the realism of Courbet and towards impressionism, but the tonal qualities of the work are rooted in a Japanese aesthetic. The painting shares similar qualities with another of Whistler's seascapes, Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville (1865). Sea and Rain was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1867 where it was received favorably by critics.