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The Raft
J. M. W. Turner·1807
Historical Context
The Raft from 1807 may relate to or anticipate Géricault's famous treatment of maritime disaster. Turner's interest in the vulnerability of human beings at sea was a lifelong theme that produced some of his most emotionally powerful paintings. The work was shown at the Royal Academy, where Turner sent work consistently for fifty years; his exhibits provoked both admiration and controversy for their progressive dissolution of conventional form into atmosphere.
Technical Analysis
Turner renders the raft and its desperate occupants against a vast, indifferent sea, using dramatic tonal contrasts and the isolation of the tiny vessel to convey the overwhelming scale of the ocean.
Look Closer
- ◆Look at the raft itself — a small, improvised vessel floating on an indifferent sea, the human figures upon it visible against the vast, empty water around them.
- ◆Notice the scale relationship between the raft and the sea and sky — Turner uses the open water's emptiness to make the raft's occupants feel genuinely alone and vulnerable.
- ◆Observe the atmospheric treatment of the sea and sky — Turner renders the open ocean with the atmospheric breadth that makes maritime distance feel genuinely infinite.
- ◆Find the color of the water and sky — Turner's sea palette here is specific: the particular gray-green of open ocean rather than the warmer coastal water of his estuary and harbor subjects.
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