SHIPS IN A GALE

Amid the white crests of gray, churning waves, two masted ships tip wildly near a rocky outcropping beneath slate-gray and lavender-purple clouds in this horizontal landscape painting. The horizon comes a quarter of the way up the painting, and the ships are outlined against the clouds, which sweep across the sky from the lower right to the upper left corner. A patch of topaz-blue sky shines through at the top center of the painting. The long side of the three-masted ship to our left faces us and flags, possibly white with red stripes, fly from two of its masts. The ship at the center of the painting is angled toward us and a single white flag with a red cross flies from one of its two masts. Tiny in scale, people are gathered on the decks and climb the rigging alongside the masts. On the boat at the center, one person hovers overboard, perhaps holding onto a rope or shown falling to the sea. Foamy waves lap at the tall, jagged rock formations to our right, which jut out of the ocean like teeth. The largest boulder, near the right edge of the painting, is painted with tones of golden tan and silvery gray, suggesting it catches sunlight. The lower rocks, closer to us, are in shadow and painted coffee brown and iron gray. Upon closer inspection, two people climb onto the jagged rock closest to us. More scrutiny reveals several people in a rowboat and two men in the water around the rocks. A few birds, miniscule against the waves, fly over the rocks.