http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cid-classification/classification/picture/joseph-mallord-william-turner,-the-fighting-temeraire/262581/*/moduleId/ZoomTool/x/88/y/0/z/1
Artist:
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Joseph Mallord William Turner
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Title:
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The Fighting Temeraire tugged her last berth to be broken up
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Year:
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1839
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Medium:
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Oil on canvas
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Dimension:
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90.7 x 121.6cm
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“The Fighting
Temeraire”, created by the English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, is
one of the most representative work in the romanticism era. It portrayed the
scene when the battleship “Temeraire” was being tugged to the berth for
dissembling. The work was completed in 1839 when the Industrial Revolution
brought substantial change to the world. The Temeraire, as once a glorious
battleship of the Great Britain Empire, was no longer in use and ended up in
discommissioning.
To distinguish
whether “the Fighting Temeraire” could be regarded as a romantic art, the
characteristics of romantic art should first be addressed. Romantic arts does
not have a clear definition, it is even said that “there is no romantic style
in the visual arts if by that is meant a common language of visual forms and
means of expression”[i]
What romantic art emphasize, instead of a specific form or way of painting, is the
expression of feeling. The 19th century French poet Baudelaire
referred romanticism as “precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in
exact truth, but in a way of feeling”[ii].
Emotional expression and sentiment are seen as the important traits of romantic
art. The romantic artist express their ideal through their work, but in a way
that “could be sensed only in the individual soul and lay beyond the bounds of
logical discourse"[iii]. One
of the landscape painter in the romanticism epoch, Casper David Friedrich said
“the artist should not only paint what he
sees before him, but also what he sees within him.”[iv] In addition
to individual feeling and emotional expression, imagination is as well a
pivotal element of romantic arts. Joshua Reynolds, the president of the London
Royal Academy in 1772, mentioned that “we need not be mortified or discouraged at not being able
to execute the conceptions of a romantic imagination. Art has its boundaries,
though imagination has none”[v]. The
word “romantic”, was regarded as “that imagination which is most free” by the
philosopher Henry More.[vi]
Romantic arts, although could not be categorized by style, should involve the
expression of emotion, individual sensibility and imagination.
With the
above three features, the Fighting Temeraire can now be examined its way in
fitting into the frame of romantic art. At the first glance, the work gives a
wide view of the vastness of the ocean and evoke a feeling of decline with the
sharp red setting sun. The main objects of the work are the setting sun on the
right and the two ships on the left. The ships on the left, when taken a closer
look, are a small, brown steamboat tugging a large, light-colored battleship,
the Temeraire. The contradiction between these two ships is strong. The
steamboat is small, dark and solid. Burning red smoke belch out from its funnel
which, in some sense, echo with the flaming red setting sun. The Temeraire, on
the other hand, is huge, grand but pale. Its white and golden color suggest its
glorious past, but in the painting it is being tugged by a small steamboat. The
sails are furled up. When the painting was exhibited in 1839, Turner added
these lines: The flag which braved the battle and the breeze, no longer owns
her.[vii]
The Temeraire was
noble in Turner’s eyes. The ship was depicted deliberately in a way that seems
more elegant than it was in the actual situation. Judy Egerton, a scholar on 18th
century British art, pointed out that “the picture is almost certainly painted
wholly from the artist’s imagination”.[viii] The
claim is supported by circumstantial evidence that Turner did not actually
witnessed the towing of the Temeraire as he was not in Britain at the time.
What Turner painted, rather than the real outlook of the ship, was more an
idealized one. The three masts, for example, were removed before the towing for
auction as valuable timber.[ix] The
setting sun, too, was more likely imaginary as the towing “was almost certainly
conducted in daytime”[x]. It
exist seemingly for its symbolic meaning and for the sake of the creation of
atmosphere. From the above, it could be infer that the painting “the Fighting
Temeraire” is a romantic art as it comprise of Turner’s personal emotion, individual
sensibility and imagination.
In the
painting, Turner exerted his strong emotion through impasto, brushstroke and
choose of color. In the background sky, the setting sun and cloud were created
by applying heavy, thick paint which clumps on the canvas.[xi] The
bright red color even illuminates the sea. The perspective of the painting is
extended from the back sun to the front ships through the extension of line and
the gradient of the red color, which created a wide view. The battleship and
the steamboat occupied one third of the space of the painting. The Temeraire,
although painted in detail, have much less intense color than the steamboat. The
sea is calm, revealed by the still and clear reflections. The painting, with
the above elements, created a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere with nostalgic
feeling. The major colors used in this painting are red and blue. The contrast
between the pair of complementary color, along with the objects depicted
respectively, could create a sharp impression to the viewer. On the left of the
painting, the color blue is largely applied. In between the large space of
emptiness in the sea and the sky, the Temeraire with the tugboat gives a strong
feeling of lonesome. The Temeraire was being tugged in a vast sea in its last
time. Blue, as often associated with peace, serenity and gloomy, adequately
illustrated the ending of the Temeraire. On the right side, however, gives a
much more lively feeling. Although the red setting sun arouse the feeling of
decline on one hand, it represents hope on the other hand. On the shore near
the edge of the painting, the buildings are tall and new. With the red light cast
from the sun, it seems to generate a feeling of thriving future.
The Fighting
Temeraire leaves me a strong feeling when I first looked at it. The painting
itself is very powerful in emotion. The battleship, although pale in color, is
exquisite and beautiful. The setting sun, as the first thing to notice, is
indeed forceful. Different from the ordinary smooth paintings, the Fighting Temeraire
is rough, bold, yet dynamic. The remarkable strong sense of lonesome was
represented by the large space of sea and sky. The painting skills of Turner is
unquestionable which involves great sense of personal style. The color of the
red sun does not blend perfectly, yet this is one of the part what makes the
painting so moving. Reynolds once said “If you mean to preserve the most perfect beauty in its
most perfect state, you cannot express the passions, all of which produce
distortion and deformity, more or less, in the most beautiful faces.”[xii] As a
romantic art, the Fighting Temeraire is outstanding in the emotion it
expressed. The day of the glorious past was already the past, and the Temeraire
would only stay in the mind of those who remember.
References:
A. Books
1. Laurie
Schneider-Adams, Art Across Time, Vol II,
2nd edition (Boston: McGraw Hill College, 2002)
2. Hugh Honour, Romanticism (New York: Westview Press,
1979)
3. William Vaughan, Romanticism and Art (London: Thomas and Hudson Ltd, 1994)
B. Websites
1. The
National gallery, “Heroine of Trafalgar: The Fighting Temeraire”, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art/paintings-in-depth/heroine-of-trafalgar-the-fighting-temeraire
2.
Encyclopedia Britannica, “Romanticism”, http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508675/Romanticism
3. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Romanticism”, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm
4. Khan
Academy, “Turner, the Fighting Temeraire”, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/england-constable-turner/a/turner-the-fighting-temeraire
C. Magazine article
1. Anne Lyles, “Exhibition Reviews: The
Fighting Temeraire” The Burlington
Magazine, Sep., 1995, pp.633-634
[i] Honour, Romanticism, p.15
[iii] Honour, Romanticism, p.16
[iv] Vaughan, Romanticism and Art, p.24
[v] Vaughan, Romanticism and Art, p.13
[vi] Vaughan, Romanticism and Art, p.13
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