Alfred Thompson Bricher
American, 1837–1908
Sea and Rocks (near Newport)
ca. 1875–90
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Herman B Wells, IUAM

Bricher grew up near the sea and became a painter of the New England coastline. From the 1870s he began to specialize in tranquil beach scenes focusing on the simple elements of sand, rock, sea, and sky. Once his style and subject had been established, Bricher worked many permutations of this idea but rarely dated his work.

Wells acquired this painting in 1971 and considered it one of his most important paintings. He displayed it prominently in his living room in the Tenth Street House, above the Empire sofa on view nearby.

© 2001 Indiana University Art Museum
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Photographs of artworks: Michael Cavanagh and Kevin Montague.
Photographs of Herman B Wells: Courtesy of IU Office of Communications and Marketing.