The Ferry

ca. 1840

Francis Danby captures a quiet, everyday moment of rural life in this atmospheric sketch from around 1840. A flat-bottomed ferry, heavily laden with cattle and a few passengers, slowly makes its way across a calm river while a lone figure waits on the bank. Though Danby is best known for his dramatic, stormy Romantic landscapes, here he turns his attention to the gentle, mundane rhythm of the countryside. The loose, sketchy lines give the scene a fleeting, dreamlike quality, as if the artist just happened upon this peaceful crossing and quickly jotted it down before the boat drifted away.

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