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Each year, as part of our Take One Picture programme, children focus on one painting from the collection and respond creatively, following their own questions and ideas.

For the 2023 exhibition (13 July – 8 October 2023), schools responded to ‘A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas’ by Claude-Joseph Vernet.

About the painting

The painting shows a dramatic seascape with two merchant ships struggling against the howling wind. The storm has rolled in so suddenly that there has been no time for the lighthouse to be lit, but a break in the clouds gives hope that it might disappear as quickly as it arrived.

Children's thoughts

See some of the children talking about the painting in our short film:

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Children's works 

Featuring works by children from 40 different primary schools, the exhibition showcased children’s creative responses to the painting, ranging from crashing waves and voyaging ships, to tea-stained diaries and imaginative dance performances.

Their projects made links between art and subjects across the curriculum such as history, science, geography and literacy. See a selection of the works below. 

Download the full list of works [PDF 4.9mb]

The exhibition 

The children's works were on display from 13 July – 8 October 2023 in the Take One Picture exhibition in the Sunley Room. 

If you'd like to see previous work created by children as part of the Take One Picture programme, see our 2022 exhibition in response to Gentileschi's 'The Finding of Moses', and our 2021 exhibition in response to Uccello's 'Battle of San Romano'

Take One Picture
Learn more about our Take One Picture programme and exhibitions
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