Pictures of the Month | February 2009
Picture of the Month
February 2009
The Sun Rising Through Vapour
Joseph Mallord William Turner
(1775-1851)
The Sun Rising through Vapour [c.1809] falls into a group of seascapes painted by JMW Turner (1775-1851), arguably the greatest ever British landscape artist, early in his career. Influenced strongly by 17th-century Dutch marine traditions, this picture is closely related to a larger work of the same title, dated 1807, in the National Gallery, London.
The Barber’s picture shows a group of fisherfolk sorting through their equipment in the shallows of a harbour. A little further out in the bay, a huge man-of-war, patriotically alluding to the British Navy, floats silently and majestically as it comes in to dock. This ship is unambiguously depicted at rest—her sails are furled and the hundred cannon openings along her sides appear empty. Next to this monumental beast, a decommissioned man-of-war — called a hulk and now used for cargo storage or as a prison ship — is seen firing a shot as a sign of respect for the approaching vessel.
Turner magically captures the breathtaking serenity of the fiery sun-ball gliding slowly but powerfully up through a lingering sea vapour. Many contemporaries would not have deemed a misty sunrise an appropriate subject for a painting, for fear that the conditions would obscure the light and colours of the scene. Turner, however, as only Turner can, superbly captures the almost heavenly physical and emotional atmosphere of this setting and time. The vast open sky, drifting clouds and richly gilded light sweep towards the viewer in a rush of golden suffused layers, vitalised by the rippling reflections on the water’s surface, as if the sun has melted and dripped into the sea.
The Sun Rising through Vapour was painted in the heat and turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, which were causing havoc and destruction throughout Europe. Before Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar in 1805, Britain had been under continuous threat from invasion. Turner was a highly politically engaged artist, and this work — with the reposing battleship, the contented fishing group and the promised beauty of a new dawning day — perhaps carries the symbolic and positive message of confident hope in a future peace, founded on Britain’s command of the seas.
One of the greatest works in the Barber collection, Turner’s Sun Rising through Vapour is a calm but potent masterpiece. Standing in front of this painting, and just quietly looking, one comes under its haunting spell — a moving experience, as alive and exhilarating as a brisk walk in the fresh sea air on an English summer’s morning.
Kathryn Murray, Education Assistant
This Picture of the Month was selected by Professor Michael Sheppard, Vice-Principal, University of Birmingham. “Turner has always been one of my favourite artists, and I was drawn to this work in particular because of the special quality of the light and the contrasting colours. It has a vivid quality — the work really jumps out at you from the gallery wall.” |
| What is your favourite work of art in the Barber Institute galleries? Drop us a line at info@barber.org.uk and let us know, and we could feature your choice in a future Picture of the Month. |