Watson and the Shark, John Singleton Copley (c. 1778)

Watson and the Shark, John Singleton Copley (1778)

John Singleton Copley’s Watson and the Shark freezes a moment of mortal peril in Havana Harbor. Based on a true event from 1749, the painting shows 14-year-old Brook Watson thrashing in the water after losing a foot to a circling shark. Nine men crowd the rescue boat, their faces taut with fear, but the drama pivots on the calm, commanding figure of the Black sailor at the center—gripping the rope that could save the boy’s life.

Copley heightens the tension with Baroque intensity: the shark’s gaping maw, the churning water, the chaotic gestures of the crew. Yet the painting is more than a maritime thriller—it’s layered with symbolic resonance. The Black sailor’s central placement, unusual for its time, is a striking counterpoint to Havana’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. Commissioned decades later by Watson himself, the work functions as both personal legend and a meditation on courage, humanity, and survival in the face of terror.

Cotton and polyester canvas on Radiata pine wood frame sourced from renewable forests. Includes back mounting.