“WATSON AND THE SHARK”
WATSON AND THE SHARK is an oil painting by John Singleton Copley. It first
exhibited in 1778 at the Royal Academy. The painting depicts an orphan called Watson’s loss
of his leg to a shark when he was swimming in Havana Harbour.
In the foreground, I can see a boy and a shark. Watson has no clothes on, maybe
because it makes swimming easier. He has long, blond hair. He has a very delicate beauty in
himself, I almost mistook him for a girl. His facial expression is very intense, I can see he is
extremely terrified, not knowing if he will survive the encounter with the shark. He is hurt,
but I think he still has the hope to be saved and stay alive. He floats passively, but he uses
his right arm to reach the men who want to help him. Right next to the boy, I can see the
shark. The deadly creature is ready to take Watson’s life. The shark is so big that its body
can’t be shown in the picture, we can see that the fish wants to attack again, however, I
believe the man with the harpoon might hurt the animal and kill it.
In the middle ground, there’s a boat filled with men. There are nine rescuers on the
boat and, surprisingly, there’s a black man amongst them. He may be a slave, but his outfit
looks very neat. He wants to help, and so does everyone. On the right of the boat, right next
to the man of colour, we see a person holding a harpoon. He looks very determined to kill
the animal, I can see the rage in his eyes. He wants the shark dead at all costs. I think he’s
the only one that doesn’t pay all his attention to the boy. In the middle of the boat, there are
two people who are trying to rescue Watson. They are leaning towards the boy and the man
behind them has to hold them so that they don’t fall into the water. There are four other
men on the boat, they look terrified and nervous. I believe their role is to depict the fear, but
other than that their presence doesn’t play a huge part in the painting.
In the background, I can see a town. It’s the Havana Harbour, there’s also the Morro
Castle on the right. There are also other ships and boats, it has to be the docks. The boats
have flags on them, I think it is because national identity used to be a crucial part of
everyone’s life back in the 18th century. Yet, the background doesn’t play the most
important role in the painting, it is there only to show us that the action happened in the
Harbour.
When it comes to the interpretation of the painting, it is extremely meaningful. For
instance, the harpooner’s pose and action, in general, can be seen as defeating the devil. It’s
a depiction of a fight between man and nature, good and evil, but also simply it’s about life
and death. I think this painting is very powerful, especially knowing that the artist has never
been to Havana or even seen the shark in real life. “Watson and the Shark” is a crucial
painting in the history of late-eighteenth-century English Romanticism.
The information about the meaning is based on the excerpts from the following websites:
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/british-colonies/colonial-
period/a/copley-watson-shark
https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/copley-watson-and-the-shark.html
https://www.artstor.org/2017/07/26/watson-and-the-shark-a-most-usefull-lesson-to-
youth/
