Art is a way for people to express themselves, find an ability to reflect on the things around them and provide commentary on what they think about life. Throughout generations, many artistic styles focused on either accurately reflecting the modern reality or discussing the intrinsic qualities existence brings with it and presenting social commentary in a visual form. Romanticism, as an artistic movement emerging in the 19th century, has worked to discuss and potentially challenge the existing relationship between people, nature, and art that was established by realism.
The focus was largely made on the individual, trying to capture the emotional components of a person and their surroundings. Using vivid colors and striking lighting, Romanticist painters strove to look at reality through a new kind of lens (Joseph Mallord William Turner). Joseph Mallord William Turner was one of the most important among them, bringing many well-known pieces to life and becoming the key representative of the genre as a whole (Joseph Mallord William Turner).
His paintings worked as both beautiful depictions of nature and a way to include political and social commentary into an artistic medium. One of his most controversial and well-known works, The Slave Ship, is notable for the above reasons. While capturing the wild beauty and majesty of the sea, the painter also worked to weave a commentary regarding the effects of slavery and its inherent brutality. At the time when Britain tried to bury the traces of the inhuman treatment of people of color, Turner used his art to remind the populace of the savage and cruel practices his country has engaged in recently. With the use of color and striking visuals to emphasize the dire circumstances of the situation, the painter reinforces the brutality of the slave trade.