Coastal Scene with Sailing and Rowing Boats and Figures on the Shore

This second Coastal Scene with Sailing and Rowing Boats and Figures on the Shore from around 1783 demonstrates that Gainsborough was working through variations on coastal subjects rather than producing single definitive compositions, exploring the possibilities of atmospheric marine light in a series of related canvases. The practice of returning to a compositional type in multiple versions was characteristic of his landscape production generally — he produced numerous wooded landscapes, pastoral valleys, and open uplands that share compositional elements while developing different atmospheric solutions. The V&A holds both versions of this coastal subject alongside other late landscapes, enabling a comparison that reveals the subtle variations in light, color, and mood through which Gainsborough explored his invented seascapes. The marine atmosphere of the 1780s would inform Turner's earliest coastal works, though Turner arrived at similar effects through very different means.

The composition balances the horizontal expanse of sea and sky with the vertical accents of masts and sails. Gainsborough's characteristic soft handling creates atmospheric distance, with the far shore dissolving into haze.