Slave Ship

Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On).

This 1840 painting by J. M. W. Turner is terrible in its magnificence. I finally got to see the last of my recorded Schama's Power of Art program on Turner this weekend and it held me spellbound. Especially this picture, dealing as it does with slavery and the inhumanity of it all. Here we have a maelstrom of death and everything horrid, concentrated in one monstrous, terrifying cacophony of malevolent color—or is it? At the top right of the picture is what seems to be an expanding patch of blue that signals, perhaps, better days ahead.

Of course, it's not all color. Look closely and you'll see content: slaves drowning, and the sea monsters feeding on the poor souls. In the bottom-right corner, Turner's got a disembodied leg with the iron shackles still attached, sticking up. Just look at it, it's furious and lamentable, as if God is really, truly pissed at the fuckers on that ship, that forlorn ship tossed about in the sea spray. Right down the middle is a path of calm that leads to that columnar splash of light. Incredible.

To call this powerful is an understatement. Interestingly, Turner was laughed at for doing this painting. I believe, as does Schama, that this work is one of the best paintings of its time.