The image that I would like to analyze for the second essay is named “Fisherman at Sea” by Joseph Mallord William Turner. It was exhibited in 1796 at the Royal Academy and was made with oil paint on canvas. The painting is 914 x 1222 mm, and was the first painting that Turner exhibited in this academy. This scene portrays the dangerous rocks that have been titled “the Needles”, which is right off the Isle of Wight. The painting shows influences from artists like Peter Monamy, and Francis Swaine, as nocturnal, moonlit scenes were common with these artists. He was part of the Romantic Movement, which was known for glorifying nature and focusing on emotion.
Turner entered a school of art when he was 14, and was encouraged by his teachers to keep painting. After only one year of studying watercolor, one of his watercolor paintings was accepted into an exhibition, and then six years later the oil painting I would like to analyze was exhibited into the Royal Academy, which was also the first oil painting of his that was exhibited. After this painting, he was exhibited in the academy almost every single year until the end of his life, showing his immense talent persevered from a young age up until his old age.
What drew me to this image is how dark it is, and yet still manages to pull in so much detail even through the darkness. In fact, the darkness serves to mask some of that detail, so that i is easy for one to simply look at the main part of the painting and easily skip over everything else. It is this type of subtlety I appreciate, something that does not need to have every detail thrown in your face, but instead something that will reveal itself to the people who are willing to put in the effort to see it. I also find the scene in itself to be a terrifying one, and the way that it is executed portrays the immensity of that terror perfectly.
The painting portrays a storm, with two boats trying their best to stay afloat, although only one boat is illuminated by the moonlight. The waves are crashing against the boats and causing them all to tilt at awkward, dangerous angles. There are small figures of people that can be seen in the two boats that are the closest to the foreground. In the background you can see the shadows of jagged rocks that add even more danger and tension to the scene. Clouds cover the entire sky except towards the middle, where they part to let the moonlight through. Looking closely, you can see one figure in the boat holding a lantern while others struggle to keep the boat afloat.
I have researched the basic historical background of the image which I mentioned earlier in this post, but in order to fully interpret this image I would need to know more details about the Romantic movement in general, as well as what exactly was going through Turner’s mind while he was painting this. For example, why choose this location in particular? Also, from some basic research I was doing while choosing my painting, I learned that this artist chose to include humans in his painting to show his love for humanity, but also had that contrast with the terrifying sublime that is nature.
The way this painting is composed draws the eyes to the center of the painting where all the light is focused. After being drawn to the illuminated ship, the eyes go up to where the clouds depart. The way the light shows through the clouds and reflects off of the waves creates something of an arc for people to keep their attention on. This is why it is so easy to simply see what is illuminated rather than look outside of that arc. The waves elevate the boat in the foreground, giving it a stage so that it is focused on.
The amount of circular motion that is present in this painting implies that what is happening here in nature is cyclical. What is the most likely outcome of this painting is that the fishermen do not end up surviving this storm, and the shapes in this painting show that it is all part of the cycle of nature, reclaiming what once belonged to it. The parts of this painting that make it sublime are the dark colors, and the scale that the artist places the humans up against. Additionally, the irregular strokes, lack of symmetry, and overall roughness that is present in the painting give it the feeling of something awe-inspiring and powerful.
afrahhumanities 