1778, John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark -- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
From the museum label: A preliminary study shows that Copley first sketched the figure at the top of the group as a white man, while his final painting depicts a Black man in this central role. Copley's rendering of the Black sailor and his relationship to Watson (the boy being rescued) is psychologically complex, reversing the power dynamic that usually governed race relations in the transatlantic world during the late 18th century. In the painting, Watson's fate rests in the hands of the African sailor who holds the crucial lifeline. In reality, Brook Watson would argue to continue the slave trade as a member of the British Parliament.
1778, John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark -- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
From the museum label: A preliminary study shows that Copley first sketched the figure at the top of the group as a white man, while his final painting depicts a Black man in this central role. Copley's rendering of the Black sailor and his relationship to Watson (the boy being rescued) is psychologically complex, reversing the power dynamic that usually governed race relations in the transatlantic world during the late 18th century. In the painting, Watson's fate rests in the hands of the African sailor who holds the crucial lifeline. In reality, Brook Watson would argue to continue the slave trade as a member of the British Parliament.