Nantasket Beach

Nantasket Beach — Emil Carlsen. 1876.

Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 38.7 × 66.8 cm (15 1/4 × 26 5/16 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Emil Carlsen combined naturalism with a bright, light-filled palette, creating a seascape that harmonizes academic painting and Impressionism. Blue sky and white clouds fill much of the canvas. The scene portrays a leisurely moment: two figures rest in the sand and look out at the rolling waves while a woman with a parasol walks along the water’s edge. Seaside tourism in New England—a subject portrayed here by Carlsen and, more famously, by Winslow Homer (on view nearby)—increased in popularity during the late 19th century, offering a respite from growing industrialism. Trained in architecture in Copenhagen, Carlsen immigrated in 1872 to Chicago, shifting his focus to painting. After further study in Paris, he relocated to Boston in 1876, the year he executed this work.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.