Threatening Sky, Bay of New York
This painting depicts a coastal scene with a perspective from the water. There are dark, billowing gray clouds above the horizon, and the sky is pale orange. Below, large sailboats are on the dark water, as well as some smaller rowboats and a few pieces of driftwood. The water reflects the ships and the colors of the sky. On the left is a low stone building on a bit of green land, and there is a green hill in the distance on the right, covered with houses and small buildings.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- Thomas Chambers
- Date
- mid 19th century
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 46 x 61.5 cm (18 1/8 x 24 3/16 in.) framed: 55.8 x 71.1 x 5.3 cm (21 15/16 x 28 x 2 1/16 in.)
- Department
- CAB
- Holding institution
- National Gallery of Art
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- national-gallery-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Art Genome Taxonomy
8 tags
Subject Matter
-
Landscapes and Waterscapes Both · 99%
The title and catalog description identify a bay scene viewed from the water, and the image visibly combines open water, shoreline, sky, and distant land.
-
Nautical Both · 99%
The catalog describes a coastal scene with large sailboats and rowboats, while the image prominently features a central multi-masted ship and numerous smaller vessels.
-
Atmospheric Landscapes Visual · 96%
Billowing dark clouds, a distant horizon, atmospheric haze, and shifting illumination dominate the scene.
-
Light as Subject Visual · 84%
A bright opening in the cloud cover and its warm reflected light occupy a major compositional focus.
-
Reflections Visual · 95%
The water visibly reflects the central ship, smaller boats, shoreline, and illuminated sky in broken horizontal strokes.
Visual Qualities
-
Dark Colors Visual · 94%
The image is dominated by deep brown, gray, charcoal, and dark green tones, with muted warm illumination concentrated near the horizon and foreground building.
Medium and Techniques
-
Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The National Gallery of Art catalog identifies the work as a painting in oil on canvas.
Time Periods
-
19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the work to the mid-19th century, with a date range of 1825–1874.
Source & rights
Thomas Chambers. Threatening Sky, Bay of New York. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.
High-resolution sources
- IIIF image service ↗ 6,847 × 5,064 · National Gallery Of Art · Available