Calais Pier《加来码头》

Calais Pier is based upon an actual event. On 15 July 1802， Joseph Mallord William Turner， aged 27， began his first trip abroad， travelling from Dover to Calais in a cross-channel ferry. The weather was stormy， and Turner noted in his sketchbook： ‘Our landing at Calais. Nearly swampt.’

油画《加来码头》是基于真实事件创作的。1802年7月15日，27岁的约瑟夫·马洛德·威廉·透纳踏上旅程，这是他第一次出国旅行，乘坐一艘跨海峡渡轮从英国多佛到法国加来。那天有暴风雨，透纳在写生簿上记道：“我们在加来登陆。差点儿淹死。”

In the painting， a ferry （centre left）， fully laden with passengers and flying a British flag， is approaching the port of Calais on the northern French coast. Around it， small French fishing boats head out to the open sea. The sea is rough and dark storm clouds gather， although a shaft of sunlight breaks through to illuminate the white sail in the centre of the picture. The entire scene looks chaotic and there is a risk of a collision. In the lower right foreground， a small fishing boat is trying to get away to avoid being battered against the pier.

画中，一艘满载乘客、挂着英国国旗的渡轮（画面中左）正驶近法国北部海岸的加来港。渡轮周围，几艘法国小型渔船向公海驶去。大海波涛汹涌，天空乌云密布，不过有一束阳光穿云而出，照亮了画面中央的白帆。整个场面看上去一片混乱，有发生碰撞的危险。前景右下角，一艘小渔船正尽力驶离，以免被风刮得撞上码头。

Full of incident and detail， this is one of Turner’s largest and most complex maritime paintings. Its dramatic storm scene was also a significant milestone in the development of British maritime painting. The critic John Ruskin， an early supporter of Turner， described it as ‘the richest， wildest and most difficult composition’. The painting also includes one of Turner’s most ambitious figure groups， as he shows the French fishermen attempting to cast off while agitated women look on from the windswept pier.

整幅画充满了故事性和细节，是透纳创作的最大、最复杂的海景画之一。其戏剧性的风暴场景也是英国海景画发展的一个重要里程碑。评论家约翰·罗斯金是透纳的早期支持者，他认为此画是“画面最丰富、最狂野且最难描绘的作品”。此画还呈现了透纳最宏大的一组人物群像——画中，一些法国渔民试图解缆放船，焦虑不安的妇人们则在狂风肆虐的码头上观望。

When exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803， Calais Pier met with a mixed reception that marked the beginning of the critical disapproval of Turner’s work that would continue until his death. Criticism of the picture focused especially on his method of painting the foreground and the sea. Viewers more accustomed to the smooth translucent glazes of traditional marine paintings were particularly resistant to Turner’s visible brushwork and his impasto （thickly applied paint）， often laid on with a palette knife. You can see this clearly in the white foam of the waves.

1803年，《加来码头》在英国皇家美术学院展出，当时的评价褒贬不一，对透纳作品的批评由此开始，一直持续到他去世。对这幅画的批评特别集中在他描绘前景和大海的方法上。那些更习惯看传统海景画半透明光滑釉彩效果的观画者尤其看不惯透纳清晰可见的笔触和他厚涂的颜料，这种涂色往往是用调色刀完成的——白色浪花就清楚显示出这一点。