| Dead Calm | |
| Artist: | Augustus Wall Callcott |
| Year: | c.1827 |
| Type: | Oil on canvas, landscape |
| Height Metric: | 89 |
| Width Metric: | 119 |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| Museum: | National Maritime Museum |
| City: | Greenwich |
Dead Calm: Boats off Cowes Castle is a c.1827 seascape by the British artist Augustus Wall Callcott.[1] [2] It portrays a view of the River Medina at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Callcott portrays fishing boats in the river, with John Nash's East Cowes Castle away to the left. Several vessels lie becalmed on the waters including a hay barge.[3]
It is not intended to be topographically accurate and is inspired by riverscapes of the Italian style. Calcott produced several versions of the painting, one of which was submitted to the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1827. As Turner stayed with Nash that year and produced his own depiction of the river, it may have heightened the rivalry between the two artists. Today the work is in the collection National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.[3]