English school; 19th century.
"Navy".
Oil on canvas.
It has a period frame with damages.
Measurements: 70 x 97 cm; 102 x 129 cm (frame).
In this work the author places us in front of a navy with several boats full of fishermen rowing desperately. The rowers of the boat are threatened by the waves, the waters are dark and transparent at the same time, worked with great virtuosity. Beyond, we see a high horizon with a glimpse of the sky, which is joined to the sea by the tonality and humidity of the atmosphere. The scene is notable for the great dynamism and expressiveness achieved by the artist through the waves and the attitudes adopted by the figures in the painting.
Ships and boats have been depicted in art since antiquity, but seascapes only began to become a genre at the beginning of the Renaissance, with the spread of landscape as an independent genre. Pure seascapes, however, did not become widespread until the 17th century, especially in Dutch painting, reflecting the very powerful foreign trade and the large Dutch naval fleet. These same motifs would encourage the cultivation of seascapes in British painting. Later, Romanticism revived the theme of the sea and the coast, especially in its most tempestuous aspects. Germans and Englishmen excelled in depicting raging seas or lonely, mystical cliffs. In the 19th century the art market expanded considerably and genre painting, especially landscape painting, enjoyed great success in bourgeois circles. The generalisation of plein air painting, moreover, meant that promenades, beaches and ports were filled with easel painters immortalising maritime scenes. Pure seascapes were a reflection of Holland's powerful foreign trade and large naval fleet. In marine painting, artists very often opted for turbulent views, dominated by grey, stormy skies and ships battling the elements.