Evoking the choppy, cheerless waters of the North Sea, this painting brilliantly exemplifies the way Turner exploited the differing moods of his maritime subjects to create highly affecting images. While storm clouds ominously gather overhead, a single fishing boat navigates the breaking waves, its sail straining against the whipping wind. In the foreground, an abandoned catch scattered beside the timber groins creates a feeling of loss and futility. Conceived as a homage to the Dutch marine painter Jacob van Ruisdael (1628–1682), whose name is given to the fictional port depicted, Turner’s painting made a strong impression on his greatest supporter, John Ruskin. “I know of no work at all comparable,” Ruskin remarked, “for the expression of the white, wild, cold, comfortless waves of the northern sea.” Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)
Although remembered as a landscape painter, J. M. W. Turner was above all else a painter of the sea, especially in the 1830s and 1840s, when he explored the sea’s more threatening moods. Contemplating this picture, John Ruskin, Turner’s greatest interpreter and champion, remarked: “I know of no work at all comparable for the expression of the white, wild, cold, comfortless waves of the northern sea, even though the sea is almost subordinate to the awful rolling clouds.” Port Ruysdael was a title Turner invented as an homage to the Dutch seventeenth-century painter Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/9–1682). The composition was inspired by several marine paintings by Ruisdael, including one in the Louvre that Turner saw on a visit to Paris in 1802. Turner exhibited Port Ruysdael at the Royal Academy in 1827, but it did not sell until Elhanan Bicknell acquired it in 1844, along with Turner’s Wreckers (shown nearby). Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
The title is fictitious, apparently chosen by Turner as an homage to the seventeenth-century Dutch master Jacob Ruisdael, whose works he had seen, admired, and sketched in 1802 when for the first time he visited the Louvre. Ruisdael eventually became Turner's favorite Dutch master. Referring to the picture in his enormously influential book Modern Painters, the critic John Ruskin wrote: "I know of no work at all comparable for the expression of the white, wild, cold, comfortless waves of the north sea, even though the sea is almost subordinate to the awful rolling clouds." Turner had not exhibited a sea picture for upwards of eight years, so Port Ruysdael [sic] was an important harbinger. Henceforth, he produced a great series of tempestuous sea pictures, many of which he retained and bequeathed to the nation (Tate Britain). Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2005
Created by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), the artist; purchased by Elhanan Bicknell (1788–1861), of Herne Hill, Surrey, 1844 [1][a]; purchased at auction by Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, April 25, 1863 (lot 120, ‘Port Ruysdael’), in "Renowned collection of English pictures and sculpture, of that distinguished patron of art, Elhanan Bicknell, Esq.: deceased, removed from Herne Hill" for John Heugh (1812–1893) [2][b][c][d]; purchased by Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1864 [3] [e]; purchased by Sir John Kelk, first Baronet (1816–1886), London, 1864; by descent to his son, Sir John William Kelk, second Baronet (1851–1923), London; purchased at auction by Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., London, at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, March 11, 1899 (lot 40, ‘Port Ruysdael’), in "Catalogue of important modern pictures of Sir John Kelk, Bart., deceased: comprising pictures of the English & Continental schools and a few pictures by old masters" [f]; purchased in London by Sir George Alexander Drummond (1829–1910), of Montreal, July 9, 1900 [4][g]; by inheritance to his wife, Grace Julia Parker Drummond (1860–1942) [h]; purchased in London at auction by Knoedler & Co., New York, at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, June 26–27, 1919 (lot 158), in "Catalogue of the well-known collection of choice modern pictures and drawings chiefly of the Barbizon and Dutch schools and works by old masters of the late Sir George A. Drummond, K.C.M.G. of Montreal" [5][i][j][k]; purchased in New York by Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor V, first Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971), New York, March 6, 1946 [6][l]; purchased at auction by Newhouse Galleries, Ltd., and Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd. at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, October 19, 1960 (lot 44, ‘Port Ruysdael’), in "Notable Paintings by the Old Masters From the Collections of the Estate of the Late Lillian S. Timken, Gladys Lloyd Robinson, John J. Astor, and Other Owners" [7][m][n]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1962 [o]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1977. Notes: [1] Elhanan Bicknell (1788–1861) was a prominent London businessman and arts patron, whose major collection of art hung at his house in Herne Hill, Surrey. He was an important supporter of the artist, whose sometime dealer Thomas Griffith (1795–1868) may have facilitated this purchase. Another painting with a similar scene, size, and title was apparently made on commission according to a letter Turner wrote to Griffith on February 1, 1844, though that painting (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-fishing-boats-bringing-a-disabled-ship-into-port-ruysdael-n00536) did not sell. [2] John Heugh (1812–1893) as a merchant from Manchester, his textile trading company Heugh, Balfour & Co. (founded with George Edmond Balfour [1821–1869] and managed in part with his brother Hugh Heugh) went bankrupt by 1879, and he sold much of his collection and property at auction in the preceding years. He was actively collecting art between 1845 and 1878. [3] According to Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, the dealer exchanged this painting with another sometime in 1864. [4] Sir George Alexander Drummond was a Scottish-born Canadian politician and art collector, who owned at least five works by Turner, including two oils and three drawings. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/drummond_george_alexander_13E.html. [5] The auction took place over two days. This painting sold on the second day, June 27. [6] Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor V, first Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971), born into the Astor family, was an American-born British politician and chairman of The Times (London). [7] The provenance entry in Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll’s The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner features a typographical error, stating the sale occurred on October 19, 1961, rather than 1960. Citations: [a] Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner (New Haven: The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 1984): 131–32 and 232, no. 237, pl. 242. [b] Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of the renowned collection of English pictures and sculpture, of that distinguished patron of art, Elhanan Bicknell, Esq. : deceased, removed from Herne Hill : which (by order and for account of the executors) will be sold by auction, by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods ... on Saturday, April 25, 1863, at one o'clock precisely, (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1863). https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/14748631. [c] "The Bicknell Collection." The Times. April 27, 1863. [d] William Evan Fredeman, ed., The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Martlesham: D.S. Brewer, 2002), 4–5: 540. [e] Butlin and Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 131. [f] Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of important modern pictures of Sir John Kelk, Bart., deceased: comprising pictures of the English & Continental schools and a few pictures by old masters, March 11, 1899, (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1899). https://archive.org/details/cataloguekelk00chri. [g] Arthur Tooth & Sons stock inventories and accounts, 1871-1959, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 860679. Series I. Stock books. no. 391. p. 137-138. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/860679_ref50_yl8 [h] "Drummond Estate to be Divided Equally Among the Family," The Montreal Star, February 8, 1910. [i] "25,500 Guineas For A Hals," The Times, June 28, 1919. [j] Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of the well-known collection of choice modern pictures and drawings chiefly of the Barbizon and Dutch schools and works by old masters of the late Sir George A. Drummond, K.C.M.G. of Montreal : which ... will be sold by auction by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods ... London on Thursday, June 26, 1919 and following day (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1919), p. 41. https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_drummond-collection-pictures_folioN5230C22D781919-16342. [k] "A Canadian art collection." The Times. May 7, 1919. [l] M. Knoedler & Co. records, approximately 1848-1971, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54., Knoedler Stock Book 9, Page 2, Row 19, Stock No. 14754. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b9. [m] Butlin and Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 131. [n] Art Prices Current 1960–1961, Volume XXXVIII (London: Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd., 1961), 9. [o] Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 226-227.
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]
Unto This Last (Watts Gallery) (Watts Gallery Trust, 2020-03-10 - 2020-11-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner and the Sea (The Peabody Essex Museum, 2014-05-31 - 2014-09-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner and the Sea (National Maritime Museum, 2013-11-22 - 2014-04-21) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner and the Masters (Museo del Prado, 2010-06-21 - 2010-09-19) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner and the Masters (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2010-02-22 - 2010-05-23) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner and the Masters (Tate Britain, 2009-09-21 - 2010-01-24) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner : The Late Seascapes (Burrell Collection, 2004-02-15 - 2004-05-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner : The Late Seascapes (Manchester City Galleries, 2003-11-01 - 2004-01-25) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner : The Late Seascapes (Clark Art Institute, 2003-06-14 - 2003-09-08) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner 1996 (National Gallery of Victoria, 1996-06-23 - 1996-09-09) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Turner 1996 (National Gallery of Australia, 1996-03-17 - 1996-06-10) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Mie Prefectural Art Museum, 1993-04-10 - 1993-05-09) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Daimaru Museum of Art, 1993-03-10 - 1993-03-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Hiroshima Museum of Art, 1993-01-23 - 1993-03-07) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Koriyama City Museum of Art, 1992-11-21 - 1993-01-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Ohita Prefectural Art Hall, 1992-10-24 - 1992-11-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
British Landscape Exhibition (Japan) (Isetan Museum of Art, 1992-09-17 - 1992-10-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Montreal Collections 1880 - 1920 (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1989-12-15 - 1990-02-25) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Presences of Nature - British Landscape 1780-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-10-20 - 1983-02-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
J. M. W. Turner - A Selection of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (National Gallery of Art, 1968-10-31 - 1969-04-21) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Painting in England 1700-1850 - From The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (Yale University Art Gallery, 1965-04-15 - 1965-06-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
A survey of British paintings : [an exhibition in the] second floor galleries, May 10 through June 12, 1938, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1938, no. 58, ND464 P57 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Christopher Baker, Turner and the Masters : London, Paris and Madrid, , Burlington Magazine, vol. 151, December 2009, p. 853-854, fig. 35, N1 B87 + (YCBA) [YCBA]
John Baskett, Painting in England: 1700-1850: the collection of English paintings formed by Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon : on exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, until August 18th, , Connoisseur, Vol. 153, London, June 1963, p. 103, N1 C75 + (YCBA) [YCBA]
Martin Butlin, The paintings of J.M.W. Turner, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, New Haven, 1984, pp. 145-146, 192, No. 237, pl. 242, NJ18 T85 B885 1984 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
Christie's sale catalogue : Catalogue of important modern pictures of Sir John Kelk : 11 March 1899, Christie's, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, March 11, 1899, p. 10, lot 40, Fiche B51 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Christie's sale catalogue : Choice modern pictures & drawings chiefly of the Barbizon and Dutch schools : 26 June 1919, Christie's, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 26, 1919, p. 41, Lot 158, Fiche B51 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 226-227, N590.2 .A83 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts : Exhibition Catalogue. 1827. 59th., Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, no. 59, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1827, p. 11, no. 147, N5054 A53 50-64 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Guillaume Faroult, Turner et ses peintres : album de l'exposition, , Editions Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 2010, p. 37, fig. 32, NJ18 T85 F37 2010 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 67, ND466 .G67 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Louis Hawes, Presences of Nature : British Landscape, 1780-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1982, pp. 32, 133-134, no. II.14, pl. 26, ND1354.4 H38 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Luke Herrmann, The Paul Mellon Collection at Burlington House, Connoisseur, vol. 157, December 1964, p. 218, N1 C75 + OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
J.M.W. Turner : a selection of paintings from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, , National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1968, pp. 14, 26, no. 11, fig. 11, NJ18 T85 U5 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Michael Lloyd, Turner, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1996, pp. 173, 231, no. 11, NJ18 T85 L57 1996 + (YCBA) [YCBA]
Loan exhibition of English painting of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries June 6th to July 9th, 1933, , California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1933, p. 35, no. 66, ND466 C35 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Frederic Ogee, Turner : les paysages absolus, , Hazan, Paris, 2010, pp. 12, 169, 264-265, NJ18 T85 O34 2010 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Painting in England : 1700-1850, Arts Review, vol. 37, April 1963, p. 21, V 2337 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, p. 91, no. 134, pl. 191, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Painting in England 1700-1850 from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, The Royal Academy of Arts Winter Exhibition 1964-65., , Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1964, pp. 45-46 (v.1), no. 168, N5220.M45 R69 1964 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Ines Richter-Musso, Turner and the elements, Hirmer, Munich, 2011, pp. 124-125, fig. 9, NJ18.T85 A12 2011 + OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
Christine Riding, Turner & the sea, Thames & Hudson, London, 2013, pp. 27, 38, 139, 146-147, 169, 189, 243, 244, 250, no. 63, NJ18.T85 R52 2013 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
Sam Smiles, The late works of J. M. W. Turner : the artist and his critics, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, 2020, p. 185, fig. 108, NJ18.t85 S655 2020 Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]
David H. Solkin, Turner and the masters, Tate Publishing, London, 2009, pp. 182-183, 218, fig. 70, NJ18 T85 T8352 2009+ (YCBA) [YCBA]
Ian Warrell, Turner, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, pp. 77, 82-83, pl. 46, NJ18 .T85 W37 2025 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p.272, no. P237, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
Yale University Art Gallery, Painting in England, 1700-1850, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon : [exhibition at] Yale University Art Gallery, April 15-June 20, 1965, , vol. 1, W. Clowes and sons, New Haven, 1965, p. 52 (v.1), no. 196, ND466 Y35 (YCBA) [YCBA]
