After painting many snow capped peaks over the last 10 months, I have recently been drawn to their fiery counterparts. Currently, I’m working on a number of volcanic paintings and whilst doing so, I’ve been researching the work of other artists who have taken on the subject.

Volcanoes have featured in the work of many romanticist artists as they encapsulate perfectly our insignificance against the awe-inspiring forces of nature. In this article I’m going to explore just a few of these artists and how they were responding to the volcanic activity of their time.

Eruption of the Soufriere, 1812. J.M.W. Turner

Early 19th Century

In 1812, the Soufrière volcano in the Caribbean island of St Vincent erupted. This eruption was sketched by a sugar plantation owner by the name of Hugh P. Keane. This sketch served as the inspiration for J.M.W. Turner to paint Eruption of the Soufrière.

In 1815 an eruption far greater occurred in present day Indonesia; back then a part of the Dutch East indies. Mount Tambora was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history and it ejected around 200 cubic kilometres of material into the atmosphere. The ash from this column spread around the world causing a Volcanic Winter. Global average temperatures dropped over the next year and the northern Hemisphere experienced extensive crop failures

Due to these circumstances 1816 is sometimes referred to as The Year without a Summer. This bleak time inspired a poem by Lord Byron titled Darkness; I couldn’t help but reflect on our current predicament whilst reading it.

Understandably, by the time Turner painted Eruption of Vesuvius in 1817 the fascination with volcanoes had gone mainstream. Mount Vesuvius, a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, destroyed the Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD. During the 18th and 19th century Naples was a popular tourist destination as part of the European Grand Tour and Mount Vesuvius was still highly active. There were numerous paintings of Vesuvius created during the period. A personal favourite of mine is Vesuvius from Portici by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Eruption of Vesuvius, 1817. J.M.W. Turner

Vesuvius from Portici, circa 1775. Joseph Wright of Derby.

Ever since going to his exhibition at Tate Britain, John Martin has been one of my favourite painters. The apocalyptic nature of the scenes he captured are as epic as they are large. In 1822, he too took on Vesuvius as a subject and painted The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculeneum.

At the time when these paintings were created the first rudimentary cameras were only just coming into the fore. It was paintings which offered the public the most dramatic and rich ways of experiencing these historical events which were mythical in their nature. Going to see these artworks was like going to the cinema; they were a spectacle to stand before. As cameras became more popular it seems like these great paintings of Volcanic activity became less prominent.

The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 1822. John Martin

Late 19th Century

In 1883 Krakatoa erupted, killing more than 36,000 people, it was one of the most devastating eruptions in human history. The explosion was 13,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb which devastated Hiroshima and the sound of the explosion could be heard 3,600 km away in Alice Springs, Australia.

The tephra ejected into the atmosphere spread across the globe causing the skies in Europe to become blood red. Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting The Scream is thought to have been influenced by the anxiety that the dramatic skies brought him. In his diary he wrote that he “sensed an infinite scream passing through nature”

I am now working on a number of volcanic paintings based on imagery of eruptions over the past ten years. Ranging across Mexico, Guatamala and Sicily. To view a process video click the screen below.

I will be releasing these artworks on Friday 26th February 2021 on my website at 11am.