Shipping in a Swell

Shipping in a Swell from 1824, now at the Metropolitan Museum, depicts vessels battling rough seas along the French coast. Marine subjects in stormy weather allowed Bonington to combine his observational skills with the dramatic effects favored by Romantic taste. Bonington's technique in watercolor and oil was notably fresh and spontaneous, capturing light and atmosphere with a directness that anticipated the Impressionists; Delacroix called him 'the master of lightness and accuracy.'

The heaving sea and straining vessels are rendered with energetic brushwork, the grey-green palette capturing the dramatic atmosphere of a Channel storm with convincing naturalism.