Ostende Fishing Boat
August 17,1860
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and gray wash, over traces of graphite, on blue wove paper
Dimensions
15.7 × 24.1 cm (6 3/16 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83333
Art Historical Context
Clarkson Stanfield’s “Ostende Fishing Boat,” dated August 17, 1860, captures a quiet moment in the Belgian port of Ostend during the height of the Victorian era. A leading British marine painter of his generation, Stanfield was celebrated for his atmospheric seascapes and theatrical designs; this modest drawing reflects his lifelong fascination with working vessels and coastal life. Created just seven years before his death, it offers a late-career glimpse of an artist still drawn to the sea’s daily rhythms. Executed in pen and brown ink with gray wash over faint graphite on blue wove paper, ...