Spreading Canvas takes a close look at the tradition of marine painting that flourished throughout 18th-century Britain. Drawing on the extensive collections of the Yale Center for
British Art and the National Maritime Museum in London, this publication documents how the aesthetic corresponded with Britain’s growing imperial power and an increasing military presence on
the seas, representing the subject matter in a way that was both documentary and utterly sublime. Works by leading purveyors of the style, including Peter Monamy, Samuel Scott, Dominic
Serres, and Nicholas Pocock, are featured alongside sketches, letters, and other ephemera that help frame the political and geographic significance of these inspiring views, while also
establishing the painters’ relationships to concurrent metropolitan art cultures. This survey, featuring a detailed chronology and a wealth of beautifully reproduced images, demonstrates
marine painting’s overarching relevance to British culture of the era.
