Watson and the Shark is an oil painting by the Anglo American painter John Singleton Copley, depicting the rescue of the English boy Brook Watson from a shark attack in Havana, Cuba. Copley made multiple painted and etched versions of the composition, and the work is regarded as one of his most dramatic history paintings.
Facts
Year CreatedCopley painted three versions; the 1778 original is the version referenced here. A second 1778 replica is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a third, 1782, version is in the Detroit Institute of Arts, per the same source. LocationNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 1 Commissioned By Connections
In Form
1778 painting by John Singleton Copley.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationWatson and the Shark article, opening sentence
Watson and the Shark is an oil painting by the Anglo-American painter John Singleton Copley, depicting the rescue of the English boy Brook Watson from a shark attack in Havana, Cuba.
Watson and the Shark article, sentence on the 1778 version and its location
The 1778 version is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Watson and the Shark article, sentence on commissioning
Watson, having had a military career and become a successful merchant, commissioned the painting from Copley twenty-five years after the event.
Genre reference
Watson and the Shark is an oil painting by the Anglo American painter John Singleton Copley, depicting the rescue of the English boy Brook Watson from a shark attack in Havana, Cuba.
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