Port Ruysdael
Joseph Mallord William Turner
exhibited 1827
Evoking the choppy, cheerless waters of the North Sea, this painting brilliantly exemplifies the way Turner exploited the differing moods of his maritime subjects to create highly affecting images. While storm clouds ominously gather overhead, a single fishing boat navigates the breaking waves, its sail straining against the whipping wind. In the foreground, an abandoned catch scattered beside the timber groins creates a feeling of loss and futility. Conceived as a homage to the Dutch marine painter Jacob van Ruisdael (1628–1682), whose name is given to the fictional port depicted, Turner’s painting made a strong impression on his greatest supporter, John Ruskin. “I know of no work at all comparable,” Ruskin remarked, “for the expression of the white, wild, cold, comfortless waves of the northern sea.”
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0