Whalers | |
Artist: | J. M. W. Turner |
Year: | 1845 |
Height Metric: | 91.8 |
Width Metric: | 122.6 |
City: | New York |
Museum: | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Accession: | 96.29 |
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 depicts a wounded sperm whale thrashing in a sea of foam and blood. In the background is a ghostly three-masted whaling vessel.