Whalers | |
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Artist | J. M. W. Turner |
Year | c. 1845 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 91.8 cm× 122.6 cm(36.1 in× 48.3 in) |
Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Accession | 96.29 |
Website | www |
Whalers is an 1845 painting by British artist J. M. W. Turner. Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts a whaling ship and her launches pursuing a whale. Originally created with the hope that collector Elhanan Bicknell would purchase it, the work is currently found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [1] [2] [3] The painting was the centerpiece for the exhibition Turner’s Whaling Pictures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016. [2] [4]
The painting depicts a wounded sperm whale thrashing in a sea of foam and blood. In the background is a ghostly three-masted whaling vessel. [3] The massive head of a wounded whale is breaking through the sea surface is to the left, its tail is seen in the froth to the right and a small boat is being tossed in the center foreground. [2]