# Seashore with Fishermen **Thomas Gainsborough** (English, 1727–1788) c. 1781/1782 oil on canvas overall: 101.9 x 127.6 cm (40 1/8 x 50 1/4 in.) framed: 124.5 x 149.9 x 7 cm (49 x 59 x 2 3/4 in.) Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970.17.121. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52265.html). ## About this work Fishermen push a boat out from a rocky shore while others in the foreground haul a net through the surf, beneath a towering pale cliff and a sky of drifting lavender cloud. Gainsborough turned to coastal scenes in the early 1780s and painted them with a freedom that struck his contemporaries; brushwork this loose was rare in British painting of the time. The cool palette of greens, blues and creams captures the fresh air and movement of the sea. _Written by Ochre Editions._ Thomas Gainsborough painted this in about 1781/1782, aged about 54. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. ### What you’re looking at From a rocky shoreline, we look on several light-skinned people working by the sea with a boat and a net in this freely painted, almost square seascape. The scene is framed by a silhouette of low boulders along the lower right corner, and a towering cream-white rock rising two-thirds of the way up the composition to our left. Scrubby, celery-green vegetation grows on the rocky outcropping. Near the center, close to the towering white rocks, three people sit, reaching for something near one end of a boat while a fourth person braces against the rock, presumably to push the boat out to the sea. Closer to us, three people on the shore work with a net. Two stand with the net hooked over their shoulders, and a third person crouches in the water with head down. The people all wear simple shirts and pants in shades of tan, mustard yellow, burnt orange, and pale blue. All but two wear hats. The sea meets the shore with frothy white foam and cresting, low waves. The sea beyond fades from pale sage green to arctic blue along the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up the composition. Two sail boats tilt against the wind in the distance. Pale, smoky lavender-purple clouds drift across the ice-blue sky. _Description from the National Gallery of Art._ ### How it was made - **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled. ### [Thomas Gainsborough](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-gainsborough) English, 1727–1788; born in Sudbury; died in London Gainsborough trained in London with the French engraver Hubert Gravelot, then built his career as a portraitist first in Suffolk and later in fashionable Bath before moving to London in 1774. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy and a favourite painter of George III’s family. Although portraits paid his way, his own preference was landscape, and late works such as Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers) bring the two together in his fluent, feathery brushwork. _Written by Ochre Editions._ ## Facts - Type: Painting - The artist was about 54 - Real size: about 40 × 50 in (102 × 128 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 24 × 36 in, so every print is a reduction. - Century: 18th century - Subjects: occupation, Fishing - Colour: brown - Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose. ## Get it - Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1552.jpg?dl=1 - Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1552/1920.jpg - Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108 - Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258 - Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148 - Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5 Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/seashore-with-fishermen-nga-52265).