Claude – Joseph Vernet, 18th century – romantic seascapes

Claude Joseph Vernet (1714 – 1789) – French painter, representative of the romantic movement of French neoclassicism of the second half of the 18th century.

Claude Vernet – French painter, father of the artist Charles Vernet and grandfather of the artist Horace Vernet. He was born in Avignon. When he was only fourteen years old, he helped his father, Antoine Vernet (1689-1753), an experienced decorative artist. He studied in Italy and became one of the most outstanding landscape painters of his time. During his lifetime, he became famous mainly for his depiction of stormy seascapes, moonlit nights and sinking ships.

Claude Vernet worked on orders from the Russian Empress Catherine II and the heir Pavel Petrovich.

His large canvases were purchased by collectors to decorate their palaces all over Europe, and are currently housed in many major European museums. One of the largest collections is in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Claude Vernet’s drawings were used to make engravings.