Boats Going Out, Entretat Possibly 1858

Curator: I feel instantly seasick just looking at it! It’s making me a little queasy. All those tilting boats… I love it! Editor: Well, this print before us, "Boats Going Out, Entretat," is thought to be from 1858 and made by Clarkson Stanfield. You’ve noted the composition right away. Curator: It's really the whole mood of it, you know? Like they are caught between drama and dream, I suppose. I see the small boats, overcrowded, tossing and turning as they go against these high and wild seas. Editor: It is pretty intense. Stanfield specialized in maritime subjects and theatrical scenery. Interestingly, his experience as a scene painter significantly influenced his approach to capturing seascapes; note how the boats almost seem posed upon a stage. Curator: Absolutely. They’re going somewhere specific with their hopes riding alongside them; their faces hidden from the viewer like we can't know the reasons, because only they will ever know those. Is that overly sentimental? Editor: Not at all! I think that ties to Romanticism beautifully. Consider also the use of pencil, ink, and gouache on paper, all to intensify that slightly unsettled atmosphere. Think of Romanticism and its themes of emotional drama set against the grandeur of nature. This piece has those characteristics. Curator: And it is like… a metaphor for the times, or life's choppy waters? Editor: That’s a sharp point, yes. The image was done during a period of vast social change and England's dominance on the seas. Depicting those very common and not wealthy people, going on those journeys across the English Channel really humanized those individuals that history tends to leave behind in the records. Curator: This tiny image, so vulnerable in its grays, holds a piece of immense collective and intimate knowledge. The boats are out, but in some ways, these travelers were voyaging into uncertainty. Editor: An uncertainty visualized with artistic power!