Beaching a Fishing Boat in a Gale

1770–79

Not on view

The British painter and printmaker John Hamilton Mortimer specialized in romantic scenes of bandits conceived in the tradition of Salvator Rosa, and drawn in a virtuoso manner inspired by Guercino. Here, parallel hatching lines sculpt large waves that crash against the dotted surface of the beach; cross-hatched strokes model the vessel pulled ashore; dense layers of gently curving lines designate human figures; tight scallops trace edges of foliage; and loose, abbreviated curves suggest clouds. The boldest form, however, is the least mannered: the single, sinewy, leafless tree in the center of the sheet that winds towards the sky.

Artwork Details

Title: Beaching a Fishing Boat in a Gale
Artist: John Hamilton Mortimer (British, Eastbourne 1740–1779 London)
Date: 1770–79
Medium: Pen and black ink
Dimensions: sheet: 8 x 11 in. (20.3 x 27.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Carl L. Selden Gift, in memory of Carl L. Selden, 1992
Object Number: 1992.144
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By John Hamilton Mortimer

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Banditti Taking His Post, John Hamilton Mortimer British, Etching — Banditti Taking His Post
John Hamilton Mortimer
late 18th century

Banditti in a mountainous landscape, John Hamilton Mortimer British, Pen and black ink — Banditti in a mountainous landscape
John Hamilton Mortimer
1770–79

Lucretia's Dead Body is Carried by her Husband, Led by her Mourning Father, John Hamilton Mortimer British, Pen and ink over traces of graphite or chalk — Lucretia's Dead Body is Carried by her Husband, Led by her Mourning Father
John Hamilton Mortimer
1770–79 (?)

Bardolph, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare", John Hamilton Mortimer British, Etching — Bardolph, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare"
John Hamilton Mortimer
William Shakespeare
May 20, 1775

Shylock, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare", John Hamilton Mortimer British, Etching — Shylock, from "Twelve Characters from Shakespeare"
John Hamilton Mortimer
William Shakespeare
March 15, 1776

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