The Atlantic Ocean

The fascination of the ocean through 150 artworks from 16th century to the present

The book presents around 150 artworks spanning from the 16th century until today, which offer unique visions of the North Atlantic Ocean and of how its cold, dark waters have shaped human practices, lives, and longings over centuries. Mirroring the flow of the oceans, the book highlights the co- existence of species, cultures, and stories. Romantic paintings of stormy seas or shipwrecks by artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Peder Balke, J.C. Dahl, and John Constable, whose work has influenced the collective imagination, are interspersed with more modern outlooks, including vitalist bathing scenes by Edvard Munch and Anna-Eva Bergman’s abstract geometric compositions of the coastal landscapes of Northern Norway.

Vintage maps from late 1500–1700s that combines accurately drawn coastlines with fantastical creatures, are interlaced with contemporary works, including Allan Sekula’s seminal photographic documentation of globalized trade and precarious labor at sea in Fish Story (1988-95) and video installations by artists such as Sondra Perry and Joar Nango.