ARTWORKS

Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851)

Tate Britain

Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth

Image credit: Tate

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Notes

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Turner painted many pictures exploring the effects of an elemental vortex. Here, there is a steam-boat at the heart of the vortex. In this context the vessel can be interpreted as a symbol of mankind’s futile efforts to combat the forces of nature. It is famously said that Turner conceived this image while lashed to the mast of a ship during an actual storm at sea. This seems to be nothing more than fiction, but the story has endured as a way of demonstrating Turner’s full-blooded engagement with the world around him.

Tate Britain

London

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Title

Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth

Date

exhibited 1842

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 91.4 x W 121.9 cm

Accession number

N00530

Acquisition method

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Work type

Painting

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Tate Britain

Millbank, London, Greater London SW1P 4RG England

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Artist or maker

Joseph Mallord William Turner

1775–1851

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