Shrimping

Stanfield's Shrimping from 1848 depicts the traditional coastal activity of shrimp fishing with the combination of marine observation and genre interest in coastal working life that characterized his non-narrative coastal subjects. Shrimpers wading with nets in shallow water were a subject that combined the picturesque interest in working coastal figures with the opportunity to paint the specific quality of light and atmosphere in tidal coastal zones. Stanfield's treatment reflects his consistent interest in the working life of the sea and coast, giving subjects of humble labor the same compositional and atmospheric attention he brought to more dramatic maritime subjects.

Stanfield renders the tidal flats with subtle atmospheric tones and careful attention to the specific quality of coastal light. The shrimping figures provide human interest within the vast, horizontal composition. The palette is cool and luminous, with soft transitions between sand, water, and sky.