This late 19th-century oil painting by British artist Thomas Rose Miles (1844-1916) depicts a fishing boat buffeted by a wild sea at daybreak.Trawlers battered by rolling waves, lifeboats struggling atop treacherous breakers, crews lost and stricken ejected from schooners. Thomas Rose Miles was obsessed with seaborne drama, each theatrical scene conjured from his active imagination. Described as “probably the best nineteenth-century marine artist at painting this subject”, his legacy is a triumphant one.Born in landlocked Birmingham, it’s unclear when his fascination for seafaring began. Perhaps, like many boys of his generation, he gained an interest through fiction, captivated by the tales of Moby Dick and other equally gripping adventures. Storms were his raison d’etre - wild conditions that could tear a sail to shreds. Masses of water towering over hapless fishermen as glowering clouds dip low on their approach.He was apparently self-taught, although undertook various s...