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Joshua Cristall’s early years were aimless as his aspirations to become an artist were regularly thwarted. Opposition from his father forced Cristall into unsatisfying desk jobs until Mary Wollstonecraft told him to assert himself. He did, and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1792. Cristall emerged as a watercolor artist of real significance, preferring to make ambitious figurative watercolors rather than straightforward landscapes, often tackling classical subject matter. He did make and exhibit landscapes from time to time but often introduced an unusual degree of narrative detail through his figures. In this example, fishermen launch a boat into heavy seas to rescue the crew of a ship in distress, although the attitudes of the foreground men suggest a lack of optimism about their mission. This stormy seascape suggests the impact of the paintings of the young J. M. W. Turner on Cristall and Cristall’s desire to make watercolors to rival the solemnity of paintings.

Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)