# Whalers

**Joseph Mallord William Turner** (English, 1775–1851)  
ca. 1845  
Oil on canvas  
36 1/8 x 48 1/4 in. (91.8 x 122.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 96.29. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437854).

## About this work

A harpooned whale thrashes in a welter of spray, its shape almost lost in a vortex of white, grey and gold, while the whalers close in and a ship waits in the haze. Turner exhibited four whaling pictures in 1845 and 1846, when he was about seventy, drawing on Thomas Beale’s published account of the sperm whale fishery. The near-abstract handling of sea, light and mist shows the extraordinary freedom of his last years, which puzzled many contemporaries but looks forward to much later painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Joseph Mallord William Turner painted this in about 1845, aged about 65. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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.

### [Joseph Mallord William Turner](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner)

English, 1775–1851; born in London; died in London

Turner, a London barber’s son, entered the Royal Academy Schools at fourteen and was elected a full Academician at twenty-six. Travelling constantly in Britain and on the Continent, he filled hundreds of sketchbooks and made thousands of watercolours. His oils moved from classical landscapes in the manner of Claude towards vortices of light, steam and weather, as in The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, a fire he witnessed in 1834. He left most of his work to the nation.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 65
- Real size: about 36 × 48 in (92 × 123 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Whales, Seascapes, Boats
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1170.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1170/1920.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
- 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
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- 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

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/whalers-met-437854).