The Fleet Off the Coast, Beachy Head

About the Artwork

This watercolor depicts the breathtaking headlands of Beachy Head, the highest, most dramatic chalk sea cliffs in the United Kingdom. A marine painter active during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Samuel Atkins patriotically associated Britain’s identity with its coastal geography and famous navy. A fleet of sailing vessels is seen in the distance in full sail, suggesting a rare moment of the entire fleet’s departure.

Inscriptions

signed, at lower left, in brown ink: Atkins

Exhibition history

British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).

Quick Overview

Artist: Samuel Atkins (British, 1760–1810)
Date: c. 1790–1805
Medium: watercolor with graphite underdrawing
Dimensions: Sheet: 34.4 x 48.4 cm (13 9/16 x 19 1/16 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Gift of Lowell Libson in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin Jr.
Accession no.: 2011.411

Provenance

by 1972-?: (Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London) 2010: Private Collection, United States probably 2010-2011: (Lowell Libson, Ltd., London, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 2011-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.