Politics, Prints, and John Singleton Copley'sWatson and the Shark
1979; College Art Association; Volume: 61; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00043079.1979.10787661
ISSN1559-6478
Autores Tópico(s)Literature: history, themes, analysis
ResumoJohn Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (Fig. 1) dramatizes an incident of 1749 when fourteen-year-old Brook Watson lost his leg to a shark swimming in Havana harbor.1 The stark white body of Watson, back arched, arm upraised, and head tilted back, shares the foreground with an unusually large shark. Nine men in a crowded rowboat are engaged in a rescue operation. Two lean over the side in an attempt to save Watson: another shouts directions. A harpooner poises his weapon above the shark while a black man holds the towline. The scene is marked by contrasts: the dark, powerful shark attacks the pale, helpless boy; the turbulent sea lashes the seemingly stationary boat; the black man stands majestically apart from the white crew. With its two triangular configurations, the composition is at once schematically rational and structurally illogical. Indeed, the peculiar combination of Baroque drama and unorthodox subject matter produces a puzzling yet compelling picture.
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