In the Pittsfield of her day, Turner’s Rivers of France would have stood out immediately as an unusual and expensive work to grace any shelf. J. M. W. Turner’s genius wasn’t so widely recognized in those days, but there was at least one local connection to this English painter. Herman Melville was such an enthusiastic admirer that his own treasured collection of engravings would eventually include at least thirty-three from Turner’s work. While Melville was writing Moby-Dick, there were some in the English press who thought young Melville and Turner were kindred talents. As the London Athenaeum argued in 1850, Turner and Melville had no other peers when it came to capturing “the poetry of the Ship—her voyages and her crew.” Much of Turner’s work was sure to appeal to Melville because it featured so often the majesty of the sea, and the stark beauty of the tall ships. He couldn’t help but identify with a great artist boldly willing to impose his vision on a scene that others saw only in the most literal terms.
