William Lionel Wyllie

England, b.1851, d.1931

The Sloping Deck

  • 1871
  • Oil on canvas
  • Presented by the family of James Jamieson 1932
  • 240 x 300 x 30mm
  • 70/33

A ship founders on rocks in the midst of a storm; those aboard clamber to the bowsprit’s highest point. Vigorous brushwork and a churning sea add to the sense of terror and uncertainty. Artist William Wyllie was a lifelong sailor and a leading marine painter of his generation, and painted The Sloping Deck when he was just twenty.

(Out of Time, 23 September 2023 – 28 April 2024)

Exhibition History