Born in Paris on April 15, 1910 Pierre de Clausade’s formal education in architecture is evident throughout the body of work he produced until his death in 1976. After attending the Beaux-Arts Academy in Paris, he began endless experiments in an effort to develop an entirely personal method of expression. His aim was to develop a style that was unique, but with which he was comfortable. The balance he achieves in this painting harks back to his architecture days with the viewer’s eye being led smoothly from one side of the canvas to the other, all the while being taken back through the painting to the horizon. The small dark balls of bushes in the foreground separated by the sliver of silver as the light hits the water. The flat trees to the left varying in shade to give the impression of depth whilst the stroke of turquoise entices the eye to the right again; this was an artist who painted in an entirely unique style. After trials and failures lasting several years, he finally held his first exhibition at the 1941 Paris Salon where he was awarded a Silver medal. Thereafter he began exhibiting regularly at the Societe des Beaux Arts. In 1945, he was accepted as a member of the Salon d´Hiver and with the continued success of his Salon exhibitions, Clausade began receiving invitations to exhibit worldwide. In January 1953 he was awarded the Medaille d’ Argent by the jury of the Paris Salon. He died in 1976 and with him passed one of the most dramatic and striking individual expressions of art. Clausade took his cue from the Cubists, with their simplified form and the Art Nouveau themes of order and harmony with monochromatic style and made it his own. His success enabled him to perfect this very unique style as witnessed by his paintings. He enchants and inspires us with his creations of great cloud masses and leads us into a world of solitude and beauty, for which collectors everywhere have shown their appreciation and gratitude. Unlike other coastlines painted by the artists of the day, there is nothing vague or undefined about the French Atlantic coast as it bangs into Spain: this is Basque country. Cliffs, heathland and woods drop to beaches harder-won than the vast stretches of sand of the flat littoral zone to the north. The ocean rolls in over rocks, sea and sky are huge. Arranged almost as a theatre set design, the dark foreground frames the painting. Shafts of light subtly pouring in from the left lead us into the middle and background and the touches of lighter green and grey keep our eye moving about the picture.