National Gallery of Art: Watson and the Shark

The calm harbor seems to be an unlikely place for such ferocious action. Even though everything is frozen still in the painting, the artist has been able to suggest movement by carefully arranging the interlocking elements of the picture. We can follow:

bullet the progress of the boat as it gets closer to the shark.
bullet the violent thrust of the boat hook, as one of the rescuers attempts to jab the attacking beast with it.
bullet the path of the enormous shark, which is so big that we can only see its head and tail—the middle section is beyond the edge of the picture.
bullet the movement of the rescuers as they try to reach the desperate boy, and the movement of the boy's arm as he reaches up for help.

Copley painted this picture around the time of the Revolutionary War. People who viewed the painting were absolutely shocked by the turbulent, violent scene—they had never seen anything like it.