Description:
Johannes Son (1859-1946) was a French artist. He studied with Ed Yona in Paris. For years he exhibited at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux–Arts and other French Salons. He was a representative of the so–called Lyonnaise school. He was involved in landscape painting and graphics.

Description of the painting:
Seascapes II is the right part of a diptych by Johannes Sona. The painting is in a darker color palette than “Seascapes I“. It shows a view of the full sea on a cloudy day. The foreground is taken up by a navy blue mirror of water, which in the background turns into shades of turquoise. The artist marks the movement of the water with short brush strokes near the bottom frame of the painting. At the right lower corner there is a fragment of a ruined pier, which serves as a point of reference for the viewer‘s eye. The surface of the sea ends with an outline of a hazy upland on the horizon, above which a fragment of a clear sky is visible. The painting is crowned with a band of thick clouds, through which the rays of light break through. Its reflections are visible in the center of the painting, on the surface of the water.

The composition of the work is arranged according to horizontal stripes. It seems as if the artist is matching the opposing stripes in terms of color. Thus, both the foreground of the sea and the cloud of clouds are rendered in dark colors, while the calm water surface of the further plan and the sky above the horizon in the light. There is also admiration for the light phenomena appearing in nature. Through a coherent and almost monochromatic color scheme and the chosen theme, the work exudes peace and invites contemplation.