Jean Le Capelain

Jean Le Capelain (1812-1848) was often compared to the artist J M W Turner, and was sometimes referred to as ‘the Jersey Turner’, reflecting their shared spirit of emotional connection with nature.

Like Turner, Le Capelain did not make a direct copy of the landscape, but rather tried to convey how the landscape made him feel. Churning seas and ominous skies, storm clouds, breaking sunshine and the vigorous painting of waves, all created a landscape that was moving and changing, but could also be calm and still.

The untameable force and beauty of nature are combined in this landscape. A stormy maelstrom of swirling cloud is broken by the curve of blue sky as the sun breaks through, lighting the edge of the clouds. The central landscape is framed by two clumps of trees and lit by the emerging sun. The swirling vortex of cloud above and sunlight breaking through windswept trees, create a feeling of a landscape battered by the elements.

Despite the rough seas, two women standing on the harbour look relatively unaffected and seem safe on the harbour wall. In contrast, the ship at the harbour mouth, and the rowing boat tending it, pitch violently in the heavy swell.

Oyster fishing off Gorey has a long tradition in Jersey. In the early nineteenth century, English fishing companies dredged the beds, bringing the oysters ashore to be sorted. This huge industry employed thousands of people and led to the building of fishermen’s cottages in Gorey Village and Gouray Church. Gorey Pier was built to shelter the fleet. The beds were rapidly depleted and oyster dredging died out by the 1860s.

Jean Le Capelain was born in Hill Street, St Helier in October 1812. His father, Samuel, was a printmaker, and it may indeed have been Samuel who encouraged and helped his son develop as an artist. He received no formal art training, but at the age of 17 painted a watercolour which was then transformed into a lithograph and printed in Moss’s Views of the Channel Islands. He received some attention locally and enjoyed an influential circle of wealthy, middle-class friends. He exhibited in two London exhibitions, firstly in 1833 at the New Society of Painters in Watercolours in Bond Street, London and later in 1842 at the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street.

In need of a wider audience, and seeking more inspiration, Le Capelain travelled throughout France and Great Britain. In 1838 he was known to have been sketching in Southampton and Granville. In 1841 and 1843 he painted in Scotland. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Jersey in September 1846 and Le Capelain was commissioned to paint a series of 26 watercolours which were later presented to Her Majesty. The portfolio consisted of a frontispiece, six representations of the Royal visits and 19 watercolours of local scenes. They so impressed the Queen that she commissioned Le Capelain to paint a series of views of the Isle of Wight. Whilst there he caught tuberculosis and died at the young age of 36. After his death it was decided to raise money to establish a National Gallery for the Island. A number of his paintings were purchased, which now hang in the Committee Room of the Town Hall in St Helier. Unfortunately, the economic depression of the time meant that insufficient funds were raised. Despite his short life, Le Capelain produced a large number of watercolours. He also painted in oil, but much less frequently. His sketches offer a glimpse of some of the places and people that caught Le Capelain’s attention on his travels. His watercolour landscapes and seascapes captured the spirit and feeling of the Island with a delicate sensitivity, conveying in a visual form the artist’s emotional connection with his birthplace.

Le Capelain’s tragic death at a young age confirmed his status as a Romantic artist. He became an artist-hero who died because of his art. It was believed that dying young saved many Romantics from compromising their ideals in order to sell or show their art.

Although it seems rather grand and extravagant to describe Le Capelain as Jersey’s Turner, it is an accolade worthy of further examination. Le Capelain undoubtedly took inspiration from the acknowledged master of colour and light – J M W Turner. A few weeks before he died, Turner reputedly said ‘the sun is God’, an often quoted phrase which embraced his attitude towards the sun in his art. Like Turner, many of Le Capelain’s works experimented with the use of sunlight, be it a sunset or sunrise. Turner took his visual depiction of climate almost to the point of abstraction. Le Capelain’s atmospheric landscapes often suggest a feature, evoking a sense of the place. Turner and Le Capelain both revelled in painting the sea. Turner exaggerated the power and beauty of the sea and man’s helplessness in the face of such vast natural forces. Le Capelain’s churning seas, stormy clouds, and breaking sunshine often overwhelm any human element he might include.

‘Scraping out’ was a new technique which artists used to create highlights. Here, Le Capelain has used it to suggest the crest of waves. Seagulls flying above add to the feeling of blustery movement. A small boat with two figures on board ploughs through the waves towards a harbour. The sun breaks through the clouds, creating a yellow sea and sky.