National Gallery of Art: Watson and the Shark

Above: John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Mrs. George von Lengerke Meyer, Photograph ©1996 The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Right: John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1782. Detroit Institute of Arts. Photograph © 1983 The Detroit Institute of Arts. Founders Society. Purchase, Dexter M. Ferry, Jr., Fund.

Recognizing the picture's importance, Copley painted a full-sized replica, now in The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a smaller, more vertical composition, now in the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Watson, Detroit
Instititute of Arts