Whalers. Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775-1851 London). Dimensions: 36 1/8 x 48 1/4 in. (91.8 x 122.6 cm). Date: ca. 1845. Turner was seventy years old when <i>Whalers</i> debuted to mixed reviews at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1845. Its subject proved elusive, as the English novelist William Thackeray observed: "That is not a smear of purple you see yonder, but a beautiful whale, whose tail has just slapped a half-dozen whale-boats into perdition; and as for what you fancied to be a few zig-zag lines spattered on the canvas at hap-hazard, look! they turn out to
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4354 x 3264 px | 36.9 x 27.6 cm | 14.5 x 10.9 inches | 300dpiPhotographer:
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This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Whalers. Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775-1851 London). Dimensions: 36 1/8 x 48 1/4 in. (91.8 x 122.6 cm). Date: ca. 1845. Turner was seventy years old when <i>Whalers</i> debuted to mixed reviews at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1845. Its subject proved elusive, as the English novelist William Thackeray observed: "That is not a smear of purple you see yonder, but a beautiful whale, whose tail has just slapped a half-dozen whale-boats into perdition; and as for what you fancied to be a few zig-zag lines spattered on the canvas at hap-hazard, look! they turn out to be a ship with all her sails." Apparently Turner undertook the painting--which was returned to him--for the collector Elhanan Bicknell, who had made his fortune in the whale-oil business. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.