Sharks in Stories, Media, and Literature 217
Examples can be found in the works of Adriaen van Utrecht, Frans Sny-
ders, Joachim Beuckelaer, Abraham van Beijeren, Giacomo Francesco Cip-
per, and Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin.
Sharks appear in more recent art work. One of the best-known paint-
ings depicting large sharks is Winslow Homer’s The Gulf Stream (1899).
An unfortunate Caribbean fisherman lies on a small, rudderless, dismasted
vessel in stormy seas, complete with a nearby waterspout. Large sharks,
mouths agape, swim near the boat as a large vessel sails past in the distance.
Almost as famous, although less anatomically correct, is Watson and the
Shark (1778) by John Singleton Copley. The dramatic painting recreates
an actual attack that occurred on Brook Watson in Havana Harbor. Wat-
son lost a leg in the attack. The painting shows a naked Watson on his back
in the water about to be attacked by a large shark, as men in a small boat
reach toward him unsuccessfully and another man prepares to spear the
shark. The painting suggests that Copley knew little about shark anatomy:
his shark has apparent lips, forward-facing eyes, and obvious rays in its fins.
The painting now hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Among contemporary pieces is a well-known (some say notorious) 1991
installation by famed British artist Damien Hirst. Titled The Physical Impos-
sibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, the work consists of a 4.3-m
(14-ft) Tiger Shark, mouth agape, suspended by monofilament in a vitrine
(glass tank) filled with formalin. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
_Physical_Impossibility_of_Death_in_the_Mind_of_Someone_Living.) It
is said to have sold in 2004 for $8 million. Poor preservation techniques led
to decomposition of the shark, which was replaced in 2006. The piece was
then loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it was
displayed from 2007 to 2010.
Shark finning, or rather the campaign against finning, has inspired much
artistic effort in recent years. In 2012, a traveling exhibition was sponsored
by PangeaSeed, an international nonprofit shark and ocean conservation
organization (www.pangeaseed.org). The exhibit focused on finning, shark
conservation, and related issues. Titled The Great West Coast Migration—
Art Benefit for Sharks & Oceans, this exhibit was shown in a half-dozen U.S.
cities and featured paintings, sculptures, films, and the like, all devoted to
sharks. The plight of the oceans in general has become a popular topic for
contemporary artists, who put their skills to work to support many conser-
vation causes.
Numerous “picture books” about sharks exist, but few stand out because
of their artistic quality. Ray Troll’s Sharkabet features excellent drawings of
living and prehistoric species, including rays and chimaeras, and attempts
to depict their likely ecological settings. Richard Ellis’s The Book of Sharks
also features accurate drawings that have an underwater feel.