Fishermen at Sea exhibited in 1796 was the first oil painting exhibited by Joseph M. W. Turner at the Royal Academy.
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Turner exhibited his first oil painting at the Academy in 1796, Fishermen at Sea.
A nocturnal moonlit scene, the image of boats in peril contrasts the
cold light of the moon with the firelight glow of the fishermen's
lantern.Wilton has said that the image: 'is a summary of all that had been said
about the sea by the artists of the eighteenth century' and shows strong influence by artists such as Horace Vernet, Philip James de Loutherbourg and Willem van de Velde the Younger.
The image was praised by contemporary critics and would found Turner's
reputation, both as an oil painter and as a painter of maritime scenes.
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