This painting bears one of Turner’s characteristically lengthy descriptive titles. It depicts an episode in the life of the Dutch Admiral Maarten Harpertzoon Tromp (1597-1653), who performed the famous feat in 1652 of bringing 300 Dutch merchant ships up the Channel, through the Straits of Dover and the North Sea into Dutch waters. He had 80 Dutch warships escorting the convoy and swept the British opposition aside, defeating Admiral Blake’s fleet off Dungeness. He was said to have achieved all this with a broom tied to his flagship’s masthead to sweep the British from the seas. ‘His masters’ came to congratulate Tromp and his captains. The ‘masters’ in 1652 are not William of Orange but the interim government of the Burgher Regents under the leadership of the Grand Pensionary Jan de Witt. This Tromp is not to be confused with his son, Koornelis Van Tromp (1629-1691) who adopted the ‘Van’ into his name as a result of his father’s successes. It was he who was sacked by De Ruyter, reinstated by William II and had, also, a distinguished naval career. By the 18th century the British were calling them both Van Tromp. They had become legends by then and there was a popular song about Maarten Tromp’s broom: ‘Tie a broom to the mast’, he said ‘For a broom is a sign form me, That wherever I go, the world may know, I sweep the mighty sea’ Tromp is indeed about to be soaked by the waves splashing up against the yacht’s side. Turner always had a passion for the sea, and was fascinated by the activities of the Dutch Admiral. This was the forth and last of a series of paintings of ‘Van Tromp’ subjects ranging over 14 years. The first was Admiral Van Tromp’s Barge at the Entrance of the Texel, 1645 (ex. RA 1831, number 288; Sir John Soane’s Museum). This was followed the next year by Van Tromp’s Shallop, at the Entrance of the Scheldt (ex. RA 1832, number 206; Wadworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., USA). The third was Van Tromp returning after the Battle off the Dogger Bank (ex. RA 1833, number 146, Tate Gallery). After that, Turner did not return to a Van Tromp subject until 1844, with this, the forth painting. Together with Fishing Boats bringing a Disabled Ship into Port Ruysdael (number 408), exhibited in the same year, it marks the end of Turner’s Royal Academy exhibits inspired by the Dutch marine tradition. He was to exhibit only five more RA shows until his death in 1851. In 1898 the curator of the College collection, C.W. Carey, began to investigate the possibility that the painting was mis-entitled.(1) Holloway had purchased it with the title Van Tromp’s Shallop at the Entrance to the Scheldt and the information that it had been in the 1832 RA exhibition. Previously, when the painting had changed hands, it has been simply referred to as Van Tromp, in 1858, and The Van Tromp, in 1867. It was Carey who established the correct title and date for the painting in the Magazine of Art in 1899, although he was still not fully aware of the whole Van Tromp series.(2) The matter was taken up again by Cunningham in his article ‘Turner’s Van Tromp’s Paintings’ in the Art Quarterly in 1952.(3) It is not clear why Turner added reference ‘Vide Lives of the Dutch Painters’ in the title of the painting. Turner exhibited six further paintings at the RA in 1844, the most important being, Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway (62, National Gallery).(4) It was the picture, more than the others, which caught the attention of the critics at the RA. Its subject, the controversial railway, and Turner’s treatment of it caused most of the exhibition reviewers to single it out rather than Van Tromp going about or the other exhibits. The most outstanding comment came from Thackeray in Fraser’s Magazine. He wrote, in amazement, following some severe remarks, ‘the world has never seen any thing like this picture.’ A remarkable fact concerning the RA exhibits of 1844, including both Rain, Steam and Speed and the Van Tromp, was that Ruskin who was producing Modern Painters at that time, made no mention of any of them, which was especially surprising since he admired this period of Turner’s work.(6) Among the contemporary reviewers of the 1844 Academy to mention Van Tromp was the Art Union, who commented at length and took pains to quibble about the details and ‘the scenery’. It often happens, in the pictures of this artist, that the professed subject constitutes the least remarkable feature on the canvas. We see here a boat carrying a full spread of canvas, going so many knots, and with certain indications of shipping at sea with her quarter, where we must suppose Van Tromp to be standing. We cannot admit Mr Turner’s accuracy here; he ought, for the sake of general probability, to have placed Van Tromp at the bow of his boat. Again, we would ask, as this event must have taken place in the North Sea, why does not the artist make a difference between Dutch and Venetian scenery, or at least the seas and skies of these widely-apart countries? In contrast however the Athenaeum considered the painting the most successful and was quite lyrical about it: We must point to the best, according to judgement, which he this year exhibits, (253) Van Tromp at sea. Here we are treated, with a vengeance, to all the – Jasper, and turkis, and almondine, which the poet has so daintily sung.(7) The I.L.N. called it A Sea View and applied the same criticism of Rain, Steam and Speed to Van Tromp, which was a picture of singular power and showing what the artist could do if he would confine his erratic genius within bounds. It was the writer in The Spectator who summed up the general feeling about Turner’s works at that time: a view made up mainly of caution and hesitant praise which resulted from a basic misunderstanding of Turner’s paintings. There was no particular mention of the Van Tromp in the Spectator’s review. Their comments were aimed at all his exhibits: Turner is pre-eminent for the daring originality of his efforts; slight and extravagant as his works are, there is truth as well as power of art in his representation of natural phenomena, when viewed at a proper distance – say from the middle of the room. If not complete pictures, there are wonderful fine studies of composition, colour, and atmospheric effects; his seas are boiling surges, his clouds are floating masses of vapour; space and light are depicted, though form and substance are vague and flimsy. Opinion had not changed much in 13-year interval between 1844, when the painting was at the RA, and its showing in 1857 at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition. A notice in the Manchester Guardian described the picture as ‘the solitary example furnished by this Exhibition of the painter’s third manner… There is a want of substance and precision about the figures which renders it impossible for us to interpret the story, and though there is motion in the sea, and breeziness and air and light in the sky, and all through the picture, we cannot but class it among the weaker works in the third manner of the painter.’(8) It was still not fashionable to admire Turner’s later works. Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in Covent Garden, the eldest son of a barber and wig-maker. In 1789 he was admitted at the RA Schools and his first exhibit there was a watercolour shown in the following year. In 1791 he made the first of many tours around the country to do drawings and engravings, many of which were later published. Turner’s first oil painting to be shown at the Academy in 1796 was Fishermen at Sea (RA, number 305; Tate Gallery), which was followed by a continuous flow of exhibits at the Academy throughout his life. He became Professor of Perspective in 1807, an appointment he held until 1837. Turner’s first visit abroad was in 1802, when he travelled to France and Switzerland. His first journey to Italy, in 1819, had a great impact on his work: he used 19 sketchbooks in four months, which served as a rich store for ideas to be taken up at a later date. Turner wrote his own treatise, The Liber Studiorum, using examples from his landscape paintings. He also had many engraving published, both as illustrations for books, such as those for Roger’s Italy in 1830, and as records of his own travels, such as Turner’s Annual Tour – Wandering by the Loire and by the Seine in 1834 and 1835. Turner exhibited four works at the Academy in 1850, the year before he died. His range of subject matter was vast, and the techniques and media he used were many and unconventional. In 1836 he first met Ruskin, which inspired Ruskin’s fierce allegiance to Turner and prompted him to publish his first volume of Modern Painters in 1843. 1. See Report by him, Royal Holloway College Archives, in which he requested to change the title of the painting and his explanation of the current misunderstandings surrounding the picture. 2. Magazine of Art, 1899, pages 173-5 3. Volume XV, 1952, pages 323-329 4. See John Gage, Turner: Rain, Steam and Speed, 1972 5. Fraser’s Magazine, 1844, page 713 6. See M. Butlin and E. Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 1977, number 407, page 232 7. A misquotation from Tennyson’s The Merman 8. A Handbook to the Gallery of British Paintings, 1857, pages 66-67
Possibly sold to Charles Birch 12 March 1845 for £400 from George Pennell (according to Joseph Gillott's account book) John Miller of Liverpool, 1850 His sale Christie's 22 May 1858, number 248 Bought by Mr Gambart for £567 under the title Van Tromp John Miller's collection by 18 December 1858 Sold by him to Agnew as The Van Tromp, sold to Henri Woods MP of Warnford Park, 2 March 1867 for £2,782 His sale Christie's 5 May 1883, number 147 Bought by Mr Martin for £3,675 (with the incorrect title of Van Tromps Shallop at the Entrance of the Scheldt)
Royal Academy, 1844, number 253 Liverpool Academy, 1850, number 37 Royal Scottish Academy, 1852, number 21 Manchester, Art Treasures, 1857, number 283 Royal Academy, British Art, 1934, number 158 Royal Academy, First Hundred Years of the Royal Academy 1769-1868, 1951-52, number 158 Cologne, Rome, Zurich, Warsaw, English Paintings from Hogarth to Turner (1730-1850), 1966-67 Agnew, Loan Exhibition of Turner Paintings and Watercolours, 1967, number 33 The Hague, London Tate Gallery, Shock of Recognition, 1970-71, number 45 & 47) Berlin, J.M.W. Turner, 1972, number 34 Tate Gallery, Turner: A Special Loan Exhibition of 20 rarely seen Paintings, 1977, number 22 Agnew's, 1981, number 42
Art Union, 1844, page 158 Athenaeum, 1844, page 433 Critic, 1844, page 197 I.L.N., 11 May 1944, page 306 Literary Gazette, 1844, page 306 Spectator, 1844, page 451 John Burnet, Turner and His Works, 1852, page 120 number 229 Handbook to the Gallery of British Paintings, Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition (reprinted from Manchester Guardian), 1857, pages 66-67 Walter Thornbury, The Life of J.M.W. Turner RA, 1862, reprinted 1877, pages 92 (with wrong title), 580, 606 James Dafforne, The Works of J.M.W. Turner RA, 1877, page 113 (incorrectly states painting at the National Gallery) C.W. Carey, The Van Tromp Pictures of J.M.W. Turner, magazine of Art, 1899, pages 173-5 and reproduced page 174 C.F. Bell, A List of the Works contributed to Public Exhibitions by J.M.W. Turner RA, 1901, page 150, number 245 Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, 1902, pages 161, 231 A.J. Finberg, The Life of J.M.W. Turner RA, Oxford, 1939, pages 400, 508, number 559 and 1961 edition, page 516, number 593 C.C. Cunningham, Turner's Van Tromp Paintings, Art Quarterly, Volume XV, 1952, pages 323-9 and reproduced page 327 John Rothenstein and Martin Butlin, Turner, 1964, pages 58, 68, reproduced plate 123 A.G.H. Bachrach, Turner in Rotterdam 1817, 1825, 1841, privately printed 1974, page 20 William Gaunt, Marine Painting, 1975, page 121 and reproduced page 117, number 105 Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 2 volumes, Yale and London, 1977, page 233-4, number 410 and reproduced plate 396 Ed. John Gage, Collected Correspondence of J.M.W. Turner, 1980, page 196, number 7