William Turner was one of the earliest artists who liked his painting hung upside down in a gallery. Known for his seascapes paintings, Turner passionately brought out the various moods of sea in his powerful strokes. From a poor background with no education, his life was another rags-to-riches story. He put his heart and soul into the only talent he had — painting. His father hung his drawings outside the shack, selling them for a few shillings.
Turner then entered art school and became an accomplished artist. He capitalised on the market demand (when photography was not invented), accepting commissions for portraits, landscape paintings and engravings for illustrations, and amassed a huge fortune, painting nearly 25,000 works in his life time. It was no mean achievement to produce such a voluminous body of works those days.
Artists, nowadays, can resort to short-cuts by capturing any image (still life or portraits) on camera and reproduce it on canvas, sometimes even adopt the technique of photo montage to get the likeness. A first time viewer might get carried away by the photo realism present in today’s scenario. But it needed in depth study and a discerning eye to understand the sheer brilliance of the great masters in capturing immortal moments on canvas, working tirelessly from morning to night.
Unlike John Constable, who was the master of landscapes, Turner was dramatic in his paintings. He was fascinated by the tormented seas, the turbulent waves, the ships that were tossed around, caught in a storm and the dark clouds bursting forth in rain. He captured all the magnificent moments on canvas.
Equally fascinated by the sea was the American artist, Winslow Homer, who had also captured the fury of the seas. He was said to have built a water-proof cabin with glass windows, positioned in the sea and anchored to the shore. Sitting inside this glass cabin, he painted the thundering waves crashing around him with great realism.
Turner had also worked on a something similar. By tying himself to the mast of the boat, he observed the phenomenon of the sea. His famous work, Snowstorm-stem boat off a harbour’s mouth was a result of one such experience.
Winslow, who settled down at the Maine coast in the US, painted the most remarkable series of seascapes ever produced. Although he painted the calm seas occasionally, he was better known for his pictures of the perils of the sea and the men who strive against this power. In the later part of his life, the men and the ships disappeared from his canvas and he focussed on capturing the grandeur of the ocean.
But today, we do not have artists whose seascapes can be compared to the works of these two masters. They translated their passion and love for the seas directly on to the canvas. Their works are as eternal as the captivating magical waves that beckon every seafarer.