Three ships under sail. Signed and dated E 1 June 1835. Pencil on paper. Sheet size 19 x 24 cm. In the early hours of 31 May 1835, Eckersberg embarked on a voyage to Fredericia aboard a sloop. The following day, 1 June 1835, he recorded the journey in his diary, describing the rigorous north-east gale, the heavy swell, rain, and dese mist that at times obscured the Danish coastline. Despite the rough weather, he expressed great delay in the vessel's speed, noting that the sloop overtook every ship ahead of it while those behind closed away from view. The diary conveys Eckersberg's evident fascination with life at sea and his exhilaration at experimenting the powerful motion of the ship, the wind, rain, and turbulent waves. This immediacy and vitality are vividly reflected in the present drawing, executed on the very day of the voyage. Literature: C. W. Eckersberg's diaries 1810•1837, Vol. I, edited and annotated by Villads Villadsen, Copenhagen 2009, p. 646. Provenance: Kunsthallen Kunstauktioner, auction 487, Copenhagen 1997, cat. no. 319, reconstituted p. 81.