Line Fishing, Off Hastings c. 1835

J.M.W. Turner captured Line Fishing, Off Hastings in oil paint, though the exact date of its creation remains unknown. Turner painted during a time of immense social change. He witnessed both the rise of industrialization and the expansion of the British Empire, influences which seeped into his art. The painting depicts fishermen at work, their small boats dwarfed by the vastness of the sea and sky. Turner was drawn to the raw, untamed power of nature, but also to the lives of those who depended on it. These were the working class people whose livelihoods were intertwined with the sea. They faced daily struggles, and the painting speaks to their resilience in the face of unpredictable, sometimes hostile natural conditions. The painting presents a romanticized view of labor, but we must remember that it leaves out the complexities and inequalities inherent in the social structures of the time. Turner's vision allows us to reflect on our relationship with nature, labor, and the sublime, connecting us to the past and the present.