At the Seashore

Between 1885 and 1886, Bilińska used to leave Paris and spend her summer holiday in Pourville, Normandy. In this period, the artist experienced a nervous breakdown resulting from the recent death of her father and a close friend – Klementyna Krassowska. At the Seashore is regarded as one of the best and most well-known works in the artist's oeuvre. The painting depicts a realistic scene from a beach located by the English Channel and conveys a profound sense of melancholy. The artist captured not only the gloomy atmosphere and the vastness of the seaside landscape but also the complex nature of motherhood. The figures of the mother and her child, portrayed from behind, are separated by the expanse of the sea, which is often interpreted as a sign of mourning after the loss of a child.^[2][3]

• A Negress
• List of Polish painters