Calais Pier《加來碼頭》

Calais Pier is based upon an actual event. On 15 July 1802， Joseph Mallord William Turner， aged 27， began his first trip abroad， travelling from Dover to Calais in a cross-channel ferry. The weather was stormy， and Turner noted in his sketchbook： ‘Our landing at Calais. Nearly swampt.’

油畫《加來碼頭》是基于真實事件創作的。1802年7月15日，27歲的約瑟夫·馬洛德·威廉·透納踏上旅程，這是他第一次出國旅行，乘坐一艘跨海峽渡輪從英國多佛到法國加來。那天有暴風雨，透納在寫生簿上記道：“我們在加來登陸。差點兒淹死?！?/p>

In the painting， a ferry （centre left）， fully laden with passengers and flying a British flag， is approaching the port of Calais on the northern French coast. Around it， small French fishing boats head out to the open sea. The sea is rough and dark storm clouds gather， although a shaft of sunlight breaks through to illuminate the white sail in the centre of the picture. The entire scene looks chaotic and there is a risk of a collision. In the lower right foreground， a small fishing boat is trying to get away to avoid being battered against the pier.

畫中，一艘滿載乘客、掛著英國國旗的渡輪（畫面中左）正駛近法國北部海岸的加來港。渡輪周圍，幾艘法國小型漁船向公海駛去。大海波濤洶涌，天空烏云密布，不過有一束陽光穿云而出，照亮了畫面中央的白帆。整個場面看上去一片混亂，有發生碰撞的危險。前景右下角，一艘小漁船正盡力駛離，以免被風刮得撞上碼頭。

Full of incident and detail， this is one of Turner’s largest and most complex maritime paintings. Its dramatic storm scene was also a significant milestone in the development of British maritime painting. The critic John Ruskin， an early supporter of Turner， described it as ‘the richest， wildest and most difficult composition’. The painting also includes one of Turner’s most ambitious figure groups， as he shows the French fishermen attempting to cast off while agitated women look on from the windswept pier.

整幅畫充滿了故事性和細節，是透納創作的最大、最復雜的海景畫之一。其戲劇性的風暴場景也是英國海景畫發展的一個重要里程碑。評論家約翰·羅斯金是透納的早期支持者，他認為此畫是“畫面最豐富、最狂野且最難描繪的作品”。此畫還呈現了透納最宏大的一組人物群像——畫中，一些法國漁民試圖解纜放船，焦慮不安的婦人們則在狂風肆虐的碼頭上觀望。

When exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803， Calais Pier met with a mixed reception that marked the beginning of the critical disapproval of Turner’s work that would continue until his death. Criticism of the picture focused especially on his method of painting the foreground and the sea. Viewers more accustomed to the smooth translucent glazes of traditional marine paintings were particularly resistant to Turner’s visible brushwork and his impasto （thickly applied paint）， often laid on with a palette knife. You can see this clearly in the white foam of the waves.

1803年，《加來碼頭》在英國皇家美術學院展出，當時的評價褒貶不一，對透納作品的批評由此開始，一直持續到他去世。對這幅畫的批評特別集中在他描繪前景和大海的方法上。那些更習慣看傳統海景畫半透明光滑釉彩效果的觀畫者尤其看不慣透納清晰可見的筆觸和他厚涂的顏料，這種涂色往往是用調色刀完成的——白色浪花就清楚顯示出這一點。