Seascape was executed after Gluck’s return to painting, following the so-called ‘Paint Wars’ which lasted between 1953 and 1964, during which the artist campaigned for improvements to the quality of artist’s paints. The gently lapping waves in the picture comprise a series of receding horizontal lines, composed in parallel to the format of the board. The stillness and poignance of the scene partly depends upon the two contradictory traits of Gluck’s painting: naturalistic illusionism, driven by observation, and a studiously formal composition. The veils of shifting cloud overhead contrast with the even pattern of the waves below. As with many of the artist’s landscapes and seascapes, the midground is reduced to a vanishingly small area; the emphasis is upon the low hills in the background, shrouded at the horizon, and the ambiguous driftwood – perhaps the remains of a boat – in the foreground. Seascape may depict a Cornish scene, executed on one of Gluck’s visits to Dolphin Cottage in St Buryan, though the exact location depicted in the painting is unclear.