For centuries, artists have been fascinated by waves and the constantly changing character of the sea.
Some have portrayed the ocean as peaceful and beautiful, while others have emphasized its immense power and unpredictability.
From Hokusai’s towering wave to the turbulent seas of Turner and Aivazovsky, these famous artworks demonstrate how dramatically different artists have interpreted the movement of water.
Famous Paintings of Waves
1. The Great Wave off Kanagawa – Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830–1832
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is arguably the most famous depiction of a wave in art history. Created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, it belongs to his celebrated series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Although commonly discussed alongside paintings, the work is actually a woodblock print.
A gigantic wave rises above three small boats carrying fishermen, its curling crest resembling claws reaching toward the vessels below. In the distance, Mount Fuji appears remarkably small and calm, creating a striking contrast between the stability of the mountain and the violent movement of the sea.
Hokusai’s bold composition and extensive use of Prussian blue helped make the image internationally recognizable. Japanese prints such as this would later have a significant influence on European artists, particularly the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
2. The Ninth Wave – Ivan Aivazovsky, 1850
Russian-Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky became famous for his extraordinary ability to portray the sea. The Ninth Wave, completed in 1850, is generally considered his masterpiece and remains one of the most celebrated maritime paintings of the 19th century.
The painting depicts shipwreck survivors desperately clinging to floating wreckage as enormous waves continue to roll toward them. According to maritime folklore, the “ninth wave” represented an especially large and dangerous wave in a sequence.
Despite the frightening situation, Aivazovsky fills the sky and water with glowing reds, oranges, and golds from the rising sun. This warm light introduces a feeling of hope into an otherwise threatening scene.
The contrast between human vulnerability and the immense scale of nature gives the painting much of its emotional power.
3. The Wave – Gustave Courbet, 1869
Gustave Courbet approached the sea with the same commitment to physical reality that characterized his broader Realist style. During visits to the Normandy coast, particularly around Étretat, he produced numerous paintings of waves and stormy seas.
In The Wave, a massive wall of water dominates the composition. Thick foam rolls across its crest beneath a heavy, dramatic sky. There are few distractions; the wave itself is the primary subject.
Courbet applied paint heavily, giving the water an unusually tangible quality. Rather than presenting the sea as picturesque or romantic, he makes it feel heavy, physical, and potentially dangerous. The viewer is confronted directly with the raw power of nature.
4. The Green Wave – Claude Monet, c. 1866–1867
Before Claude Monet became famous for paintings of water lilies and gardens, he frequently painted the Normandy coast. The Green Wave is one of his striking early marine paintings and demonstrates his developing interest in capturing changing light and atmospheric conditions.
A large green-blue wave fills much of the foreground, while sailing vessels appear farther out at sea. White foam contrasts sharply with the deeper greens and blues of the water.
Monet used energetic brushstrokes to suggest the movement of the waves rather than carefully defining every detail.
The painting therefore anticipates many of the ideas that would soon become central to Impressionism, particularly the desire to capture an immediate visual impression of light, weather, and movement.
5. Storm on the Sea of Galilee – Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633
Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee depicts the biblical story in which Jesus and his disciples are caught in a violent storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee. It is also notable as Rembrandt’s only known painted seascape.
The small boat is thrown dramatically upward by the waves as the disciples struggle with ropes, sails, and the incoming water. Some figures desperately attempt to control the vessel, while others turn toward Christ for help.
Rembrandt uses dramatic contrasts between light and darkness to intensify the action. The diagonal position of the boat and violently churning waves make the entire composition feel unstable.
The painting has an intriguing modern history as well. It was one of the artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990 and remains missing.
6. The Wave – William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1896
William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s The Wave offers a very different interpretation of the sea. Rather than emphasizing storms or maritime disaster, Bouguereau combines the ocean with the highly polished figure painting characteristic of his Academic style.
A young woman sits on the shoreline as a wave breaks behind her. The white foam provides a dramatic backdrop to the carefully modeled figure, while the blues and greens of the sea contrast with the warmer tones of her skin.
Bouguereau was renowned for his technical precision and smooth surfaces, and these qualities are clearly visible here.
The wave provides movement and energy without overwhelming the composition, making this painting as much a celebration of idealized beauty as it is a study of the sea.
7. Breaking Waves – Winslow Homer, 1881
Winslow Homer became one of America’s greatest painters of the sea. After spending time in the English coastal village of Cullercoats and later settling near the rocky Maine coastline, Homer increasingly concentrated on the relationship between people, water, and the forces of nature.
In works such as Breaking Waves, the ocean becomes a powerful subject in its own right. Waves crash against the shoreline, producing swirling areas of foam and spray.
Homer’s direct observation of the sea allowed him to capture both its physical movement and its constantly changing appearance. His later marine paintings became increasingly dramatic, often minimizing human presence and allowing waves, rocks, wind, and weather to dominate the scene.
8. Waves Breaking Against the Wind – J. M. W. Turner, c. 1840
J. M. W. Turner was fascinated by storms, shipwrecks, sunlight, fire, and turbulent seas. His later works became increasingly atmospheric, often dissolving recognizable objects into swirling areas of light and color.
In Waves Breaking Against the Wind, the sea appears restless and unstable. Turner uses loose, energetic handling of paint to suggest water being driven by powerful winds, while the boundaries between the waves, spray, clouds, and sky become increasingly difficult to distinguish.
Turner’s approach was remarkably experimental for the 19th century. Instead of describing every wave precisely, he attempted to communicate the sensation of being confronted by turbulent weather. This emphasis on atmosphere and perception would later influence generations of modern painters.
9. The Wave – Paul Gauguin, 1888
Paul Gauguin painted The Wave while working in Brittany, a region that played an important role in the development of his distinctive style. The painting presents the coastline from an unusually high viewpoint, looking down toward the water and rocks below.
Rather than reproducing the colors of nature exactly, Gauguin intensifies them. The water becomes a brilliant mixture of greens and blues, while the shoreline contains striking areas of contrasting color.
The curling shapes of the waves form decorative patterns across the surface of the composition. This flattening of space and emphasis on bold color demonstrates Gauguin’s movement away from Impressionism toward the more symbolic and simplified approach that would define his mature work.
10. Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer – Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Vincent van Gogh visited the Mediterranean fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in June 1888 while living in Arles. The brilliant southern light and intense colors of the Mediterranean inspired several paintings and drawings.
In Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, small fishing boats sail across a restless blue-green sea. Van Gogh uses thick, highly visible brushstrokes to create the impression of waves moving in different directions.
Instead of blending his colors smoothly, he places contrasting strokes of blue, green, turquoise, and white beside one another. The energetic marks give the water a rhythmic quality and make the surface of the painting itself feel active.
The result is less about reproducing the sea with photographic accuracy and more about capturing its movement, color, and vitality through Van Gogh’s unmistakably expressive style.