Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Shipwreck exhibited 1805. Tate.
9 rooms in JMW Turner
From the everyday work of fishermen to major naval battles, Turner’s paintings of the sea reflected Britain’s identity as a maritime nation
By the 1790s, Britain’s power at sea was unrivalled. Its navy, the largest in the world, was the force by which the country expanded its empire and its global commercial dominance. In Britain, this power was a comfort, since the very real threat of military invasion hung over British shores for the first half of Turner’s life. What began in 1793 as the Revolutionary Wars against France evolved into the Napoleonic Wars, a global clash of empires that lasted until 1815. The sea therefore loomed large in the national consciousness as a place where wars were fought, and the lives of loved ones were lost.
Always seeking to paint what mattered to Britain, Turner painted the war at sea. He spent time observing ships in naval ports on the south coast of Britain and used sailors’ accounts to help him depict Britain’s triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar. In so doing, he not only furthered his reputation as the nation’s most exciting maritime painter but also contributed to the patriotic spirit the government relied on to reassure the nation of the unwavering power of its navy.
Turner had a keen interest in all those who lived and worked at sea, particularly fisherfolk. They were the everyday heroes of Britain’s coastal life, their age-old occupation providing food and standing for tradition in a fast-changing world. In Turner’s paintings they are often seen battling the power of the sea itself, navigating storms and rescuing shipwreck victims.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Shipwreck exhibited 1805
Storms and shipwrecks were a popular theme when Turner painted this. Fishermen battle waves, attempting rescue of an overcrowded lifeboat. A capsized ship lies behind on the dark sea. Turner specialised in the maritime Sublime – dramatic scenes that powerfully conveyed the danger of life at sea. He does this here by placing us, the viewer, close to the drama. With no land in sight, it is as if we are out on the stormy sea, too. The painting may have been inspired by an 1804 edition of William Falconer’s poem, The Shipwreck, which was illustrated by elder marine painter Nicholas Pocock.
Gallery label, October 2023
1/5
artworks in Sea Power
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Shipping at the Mouth of the Thames c.1806–7
In this unfinished painting, small craft are tossed about on choppy waves. The grey silhouette looming behind them is a Royal Navy guardship. Ready to defend in case of invasion, this guardship is perhaps the one stationed at the Nore, a sandbank near Sheerness on the Thames Estuary. Keen to depict such an important defensive location at a time when Britain was at war with France, Turner painted the Thames Estuary many times. This painting shows how he used loose, broad brushstrokes and pale colours to sketch out his composition and create light effects. The pale background gives it luminosity.
Gallery label, October 2023
2/5
artworks in Sea Power
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Spithead: Two Captured Danish Ships Entering Portsmouth Harbour 1807–9
French leader Napoleon’s war tactics included blockades preventing British trade. Fearing he would force neutral Denmark to block Britain’s access to Baltic sea trade, in 1807, the British navy captured Denmark’s fleet. Turner painted this after watching captured Danish ships arrive off Spithead, a strait of the English Channel. Britain’s attack proved dangerously provocative and a backlash ensued. Turner changed this painting’s title to disguise its connection with the episode. It became Boat’s Crew Recovering an Anchor. Those who looked closely, however, would have seen the Danish flag flying beneath the British one on the ship on the right.
Gallery label, October 2023
3/5
artworks in Sea Power
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory 1806–8
This painting was praised as the first ‘British epic picture’ because it combines key moments of the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) in one composition. At bottom left British naval leader Horatio Nelson collapses on the Victory’s deck, shot by a French sniper seen high up in the right-hand ship’s crows’ nest. French flags are lowered, conceding defeat. These moments are set within a wider view of the claustrophobic, smoke-filled combat zone. Trafalgar was a bittersweet moment for Britain. Celebration of victory over the French and Spanish navies mixed with grief over the death of naval hero Nelson.
Gallery label, October 2023
5/5
artworks in Sea Power
Art in this room
Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Shipwreck
exhibited 1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Shipping at the Mouth of the Thames
c.1806–7
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Spithead: Two Captured Danish Ships Entering Portsmouth Harbour
1807–9
Sorry, no image available
Nicholas Pocock
The cutting out of HMS Hermione, 24 October 1799
Date not known
Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory
1806–8