Light! Why didn't come up with that!?
The greatest painters recognized the power of the sea 'light'. Turner is a great example. Even his 'foggy' paintings have a mesmerising colour effect! Apart from that, I don't know if he used to live near the sea.
Dutch 19th and early 20th century painters travelled to the sea shore for painting. Honestly, I have to add that they were looking for a mecenas as well: Dutch sea-villages like Scheveningen (100 points when you're able to pronounce that correctly!) and Domburg used to attract royals and wealthy mid-European people who stayed there for months in the so-called Bad Hotels. The wealth attracted charlatans and real artists like painters.
Even today, Domburg is the town where a lot of Dutch 'double-barrel names' spend their summer holiday. You can still visit a museum dedicated to Piet Mondriaan (the one with the red, yellow and blue squares!) when he was still painting 'real life' paintings.
An example: Ferdinand Hart Nibrig; painting more or less 'pointillistic'. The painting are the dunes and main street of Zoutelande (Salt Land). Historically an important place for UK citizens! Only 5kms to the west (the painting faces east), British commando forces landed on Dutch ground. More info here!
http://www.worldwar2heritage.com/en/...ndos-Memorials
Hart Nibrig managed to capture the light of that Sunday afternoon. And believe me, people recognise this spot instantly when they visit the town!