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A Barque Running Before a Gale

Image credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

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A four-masted barque wearing foul-weather rig is shown making its way through a heavy sea in this port-bow view. Ships such as this were used as trading vessels, including in the grain and nitrate trades to South American ports round Cape Horn. Since this British-born artist lived in Valparaiso, Chile, where he ran a painting school from 1874 until he returned to England in 1892, it is likely that portraits such as this were made from personal observation. By placing the ship high on the horizon, the artist has used a curious sense of perspective to create the illusion of movement and the power of the ocean. The painting is an evocation of the era of sail, which by 1910 was giving way to steam. Somerscales excelled at creating paintings of ships under sail.

National Maritime Museum

London

Title

A Barque Running Before a Gale

Date

1910

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 40.7 x W 56 cm

Accession number

BHC1343

Work type

Painting

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National Maritime Museum

Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England

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