The sea

In art the sea has been a route and a trade, danger and death, freedom and infinity. We follow the sea from the dolphins of antiquity and Viking ships, through Dutch men-of-war, Romantic shipwrecks and Hokusai's wave, to the blue hour at Skagen and the still horizons of our own time.

• Dolphins, ships and gods – the sea in antiquity
• Dutch men-of-war and storms
• Harbours and voyages of discovery – the 18th century
• Shipwrecks and the sublime sea
• Waves and water in Japan and China
• The beach and the light – Realism and Impressionism
• Nordic seas – Skagen, the archipelago and Strindberg
• The modern sea – horizon and emptiness