Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight
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| Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | J. M. W. Turner |
| Year | 1835 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, landscape painting |
| Dimensions | 92.3 cm × 122.8 cm (36.33 in × 48.34 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington |
Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight is an 1835 seascape painting by the British artist J.M.W. Turner.[1] It is set at the port of Newcastle in the North East of England. Keelmen are unloading coal from the flat-bottomed boats that has brought it up the Tyne River to the ships that will carry it on its onwards journey. The scene is illuminated by a flood of moonlight and the blazing torches of the keelmen .[2]
It was commissioned by the Manchester textile manufacturer. Henry McConnell as a companion piece by another work of Turner's featuring Venice The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore.[3][4] The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1835 at Somerset House. Today it is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C..[5] In 2025 it was lent to the Tate Britain for the exhibition Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals.
