John Singleton Copley’s “Watson and the Shark” and the Taste for Flesh

Fascinating online lecture from the Paul Mellon Centre focusing on John Singleton Copley’s picture “Watson and the Shark”.

This talk was given by Nika Elder from the American University of Washington, as the last in a series of talks entitled Georgian Provocations. This picture keeps cropping up in talks at the moment, as it is set in the Caribbean and features a black figures, so it was interesting to hear a bit more about it.

Painted in 1778 in England but by an American artist who had recently crossed the Atlantic, it shows the real life rescue of Brook Watson from sharks when he was 14. It is unclear if Watson commissioned the work but he certainly went on to own it. He lost a leg as a result of the incident but the picture shows him whole and naked in the pose of a classical statue but on its back. It is making him into a classical, heroic and perfect figure.

Elder went on to discuss the possible wider meanings of the picture from the sharks representing the Spanish, to an allegory on the defence of Havana where it is set by the British Navy who feature heavily in the work and to a comment on global trade and in particular the slave trade. I suspect some of this speculation is current viewers projecting back modern ideas but it was fascinating to speculate on what this slightly melodramatic work might represent.