A shipwreck on the Yorkshire coast.

Ruskin wrote of Copley Fielding: 'with the irregular playfulness and traceless gradation of nature herself, his skies will remain as long as their colours stand, among the most simple, unadulterated and complete transcripts of a particular nature which art can point to.', (Modern Painters, part II, section III, chapter IV).
Between 1829 and 1847 Copley Fielding lived in Brighton and the sea became one of his most important themes. He kept his studio in London but tried to spend as much time on the coast as possible for his wife's poor health demanded a seaside climate.