The power of the sea

Janette Kerr, Christiana Payne

From the sublime spectacle of crashing waves to the vast and open expanse of the oceans, the sea has long fascinated artists in Britain. 'The Power of the Sea' offers a multi-disciplinary approach to this fascinating subject, showcasing work by internationally-renowned contemporary artists alongside key historical works from national and regional art collections. Many of the earliest artists in the exhibition - George Morland, Francis Danby, John Brett and Walter Langley - emphasized the Romanticism of the sea through images depicting the human costs of shipwrecks and their aftermath. Meanwhile JMW Turner and John Constable were captivated by its elemental nature - its fury and fluidity, breeze and light. By the late nineteenth century, the sea seemed more benign, a source of leisure and health: Henry Moore, David James, and Sydney Mortimer Laurence experimented with different ways to...