dustrialization. However, where Constable’s paintings are serene and
precisely painted, Turner’s feature turbulent swirls of frothy pigment.
The passion and energy of Turner’s works reveal the Romantic sensi-
bility that was the foundation for his art and also clearly illustrate
Edmund Burke’s concept of the sublime—awe mixed with terror.
Among Turner’s most notable works is The Slave Ship (FIG.
30-23). Its subject is a 1783 incident reported in an extensively
read book titled The History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade,by
Thomas Clarkson. Because the book had just been reprinted in
1839, Clarkson’s account probably prompted Turner’s choice of sub-
ject for this 1840 painting. The incident involved the captain of a
slave ship who, on realizing that his insurance company would reim-
burse him only for slaves lost at sea but not for those who died en
route, ordered the sick and dying slaves thrown overboard. Appro-
priately, the painting’s full title is The Slave Ship(Slavers Throwing
Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On). Turner’s fren-
zied emotional depiction of this act matches its barbaric nature. The
artist transformed the sun into an incandescent comet amid flyingRomanticism 79530-22John Constable,
The Haywain,1821. Oil on canvas,
4 3 6 2 . National Gallery,
London.
The Haywainis a nostalgic view of
the disappearing English country-
side during the Industrial Revolution.
Constable had a special gift for
capturing the texture that climate
and weather give to landscape.30-23Joseph Mallord William
Turner,The Slave Ship (Slavers
Throwing Overboard the Dead and
Dying, Typhoon Coming On), 1840.
Oil on canvas, 2 1111 –– 16 4 –– 165 .
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(Henry Lillie Pierce Fund).
The essence of Turner’s innovative
style is the emotive power of color.
He released color from any defining
outlines to express both the forces
of nature and the painter’s emotional
response to them.1 ft.1 ft.