1838
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish is a 1838 oil by Joseph Mallord William Turner, a Romanticism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a crowded fishing boat on rough water, with a smaller boat nearby. The painting shows a moment of busy trade, with people negotiating. This was a time when the artist was interested in how light affects scenes. Check out the technique of glazing to learn more about how artists like Joseph Mallord William Turner created depth and mood.
English artist J. M. W. Turner was fascinated by the sea. Here, a crowded fishing boat rides atop rolling, tumultuous waves. A smaller boat occupied by hucksters, or peddlers, navigates the churning waters as it approaches the larger vessel to negotiate the buying of fish to sell back at port. A steamship chugs along in the background, signaling the new industrial age. This painting dates from a period when the artist was increasingly interested in atmospheric drama and the effects of light, exemplified here by the turbulent storm brewing in the background. The sunlit water in the foreground…
Bought from the artist by John Naylor (died 1889), Leighton Hall, Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, 1851 [based on inventory of Naylor’s collection begun in October 1856 citied in Butlin and Joll 1984, p. 145; see also Thornbury 1862]; by descent to Mrs. Naylor, presumably his widow; sold through Dyer and Sons to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, 1910 [this and the following information according to Butlin and Joll 1984]; sold to Mrs. W. W. Kimball (died 1921), Chicago, 1910; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1922.
London, British Institution, 1838, cat. 134. Liverpool Town Hall, Pictures Exhibited at a Soiree Given by John Buck Lloyd Esq., Mayor of Liverpool, at the Town Hall on Saturday Evening September 23, 1854, 1854, cat. 40. The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1-November 1, 1933, cat. 205. The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1-November 1, 1934, cat. 153.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in 1775 at Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, where his father kept a barber and wig-making shop.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
