Isabella Flores
J.M.W. Turner's 1840 painting The Slave Ship is a Romantic maritime painting that depicts a slave ship sailing through tumultuous waters, leaving human remains in its wake. The painting, originally titled Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on, is based on a poem and the true story of the slave ship Zong, whose captain threw sick and dying slaves overboard to collect insurance money. Turner's use of colour and light engages the viewer emotionally, revealing the horror of the event and the beauty and power of nature. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1840, coinciding with international abolitionist campaigns and conventions, making it a political statement against slavery.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Artist | J.M.W. Turner |
| Year | 1840 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 35+3⁄4 in × 48+1⁄4 in (91 cm × 123 cm) |
| Current location | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
| Inspiration | Turner's anti-slavery views, the Zong incident, the Amistad rebellion and court case |
| Style | Romanticist, emphasis on colour and light |
| Subject matter | A slave ship caught in a typhoon, with human remains in the water |
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What You'll Learn
J.M.W. Turner's political message
J.M.W. Turner's painting "The Slave Ship" is a powerful statement against slavery and a call to action for viewers to join the abolitionist cause. The painting depicts a slave ship sailing through tumultuous waters, leaving human forms scattered in its wake. The ship is identifiable as a type of fast vessel used by slavers to escape navy patrollers. The painting is based on the true story of the slave ship Zong, whose captain threw sick and dying slaves overboard in 1781 to claim insurance money.
Turner, an abolitionist himself, was likely inspired by reading about the Zong incident in "The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade" by Thomas Clarkson, published in 1839. The painting's exhibition in 1840 coincided with international abolitionist campaigns and two important anti-slavery conventions in London, making it a timely political statement.
The painting's use of colour and light is striking, merging sea and sky to capture the horror of the event and nature's terrifying grandeur. The accompanying poem, "Fallacies of Hope," adds context and denounces "fallacious hope," suggesting that a system meant to bring progress brought only chaos and bloodshed.
Some critics argue that the painting's aesthetic aspects dominate, transforming the tragic event into artistic pleasure. Tobias Döring claims that the work establishes a "covert complicity between terror and the connoisseur", reflecting the ideologies of colonialism that allow the deaths of slaves to be depicted in a sublime style.
Beyond its artistic value, "The Slave Ship" is a political work that sought to evoke an emotional response to the ongoing inhumane slave trade. Turner's liberal beliefs and interest in current events influenced his art, making his paintings, like "The Slave Ship," a means to contribute to the international slavery resistance campaigns.
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The Zong incident
The painting "The Slave Ship" by J.M.W. Turner, first exhibited in 1840, is believed to have been inspired by the Zong incident, a mass killing of more than 130 enslaved African people by the crew of the British slave ship Zong in 1781.
The Zong was a slave ship owned by the William Gregson slave-trading syndicate based in Liverpool and operating as part of the Atlantic slave trade. In August 1781, the Zong set sail from Ghana with 442 enslaved people on board, twice the number the ship was designed to carry. During the voyage, the crew made a series of navigational errors, and the ship ran low on drinking water. Fearing a slave insurrection, the crew decided to throw the enslaved Africans overboard, claiming that it was necessary to preserve water for the survivors. More than 130 people were killed in this massacre, which took place over several days from 29 November 1781.
When the Zong finally reached port in Jamaica, its owners filed an insurance claim for the loss of the enslaved Africans, arguing that they had been "lost at sea." The insurers refused to pay, and the resulting court case, Gregson v. Gilbert, gained widespread public attention. The trial exposed the brutality of the slave trade and the complicity of the legal system in facilitating it. The court ruled that the murder of enslaved Africans could be legal in certain circumstances and that insurers could be required to pay for those who died.
J.M.W. Turner's painting "The Slave Ship" is believed to be a reaction to the Zong incident and other horrific events of the time, such as the Amistad rebellion and court case in the United States. The painting depicts a ship sailing through a tumultuous sea, leaving scattered human forms in its wake. Turner's use of colour and light captures the horror of the event and the terrifying grandeur of nature. The painting attracted the attention of critics when it was first exhibited, with some dismayed by its abstracted style and others interpreting it as an allegory against the exploitation of human labour in the Industrial Revolution.
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The Industrial Revolution
The Slave Ship, originally titled Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying – Typhoon Coming On, is a painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner. It was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1840, during the Industrial Revolution. The painting is a classic example of a Romantic maritime painting, depicting a ship sailing through a tumultuous sea, leaving scattered human forms in its wake.
Turner was an abolitionist and a well-known 19th-century landscape painter. He was passionate about contributing to the slavery resistance campaigns in international regions, such as in the United States. The Slave Ship is believed to have been inspired by the Zong incident, which he may have read about in Thomas Clarkson's book, The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade. The painting may also have been influenced by the Amistad rebellion and the subsequent court case in the United States, which gained international attention.
The exhibition of The Slave Ship in 1840 coincided with two important international anti-slavery conventions in London: "The General Anti-Slavery Society" and "The Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and the Civilisation of Africa." Turner's painting served as a powerful reminder of the inhumane practices of slavery and was meant to compel viewers to join the campaign for its abolition.
Some viewers have interpreted The Slave Ship as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. The painting can be seen as an allegory against the exploitation of slaves and other human labour in favour of machines and economic advancement, represented by the approaching storm engulfing the cruel captain. The indifference of nature, depicted by the same storm that will drown the slaves, can also be interpreted as a comment on the futility of industrialisation and societal advancement.
Turner's use of colour and light in The Slave Ship is striking, lulling viewers with a beautiful sunset before revealing the true horror of the scene upon closer inspection. This tactic engages and stirs the emotions of the viewer, successfully conveying the political message of the painting.
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Turner's use of colour
J.M.W. Turner's 1840 painting "The Slave Ship" is a Romantic maritime painting and a striking example of the artist's fascination with violence, both human and elemental. Turner's use of colour in the painting is expressive and intended to engage with and stir up our emotions. The painting's central focus is on the interactions of various colours, with few defined brush strokes, and objects, colours, and figures becoming indistinct. The most prominent colours are the red of the sunset, which encroaches into the water and ship, and the maroon of the bodies and hands of the slaves. Other colours in the painting include the cool blue of the ocean and the black caps of the water, which bring the ocean's hues to life and evoke the true emotions of the natural world. The intense pale yellow light of the sun seems to almost set the sea on fire, with a wide range of yellows, oranges, and reds dominating the sky and, in darker tones, the sea. To the left of the picture, these colours become purples and blues, with a great sheet of white spray providing a contrast. The hands of the drowning slaves, rising up from the water, are each just a few strokes of pure colour.
Turner took advantage of a whole range of new synthetic pigments, which allowed him to create colour effects never seen in art before. Chrome orange and chrome yellow, cobalt blue, viridian, and cadmium yellow were among the colours he used. He laid down the major shapes of the composition with primary colours, then built the picture we see on top using impasto, applied with palette knives, his hands and fingernails, as well as brushes, with the colours largely mixed on the canvas.
The painting's abstracted style attracted the attention of critics, who were dismayed by the horrific subject matter. One famous review by William Makepeace Thackeray poses the rhetorical question, "Is the painting sublime or ridiculous? Indeed I don't know which."
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The painting's ownership
The painting "Slave Ship", originally titled "Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on", was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1840. It was painted by the British artist J. M. W. Turner. The painting is now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The painting's first owner was the noted Victorian art critic John Ruskin. In 1844, Ruskin was gifted the painting by his father, John James Ruskin, who had purchased it from Thomas Griffith, Turner's dealer, in 1843. John Ruskin wrote an essay published in Modern Painters that detailed his appreciation for the work. The text became famous and influenced the public's understanding of the painting.
However, the emotional burden of owning the painting became too much for Ruskin, and he eventually sold it. In 1869, the painting was put up for sale at a Christie's auction in London but failed to find a buyer. Finally, in 1872, Ruskin sold the painting through William T. Blodgett, a New York-based art dealer, to John Taylor Johnston, a New York-based collector.
Johnston owned the painting for four years before selling it at the Johnston sale, held by the American Art Association in New York in 1876. The buyer was Alice Sturgis Hooper of Boston, who acquired the painting for an unknown sum. It then passed to her nephew, William Sturgis Hooper Lothrop, also of Boston, by descent. Lothrop sold the painting to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1899 for $65,000.
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Frequently asked questions
The full title of the painting is "Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On)".
"Slave Ship" is a Romantic maritime painting, with an emphasis on colour and light.
The painting is based on a poem and a true story about the slave ship Zong. In 1781, the captain of the ship threw sick slaves overboard to collect insurance money.
"Slave Ship" is a political painting meant to compel viewers to join the campaign for the abolition of slavery.
