J.M.W. Turner
Venice from the Laguna, 1840
© National Gallery of Scotland
J.M.W. Turner
Rome from Monte Mario, 1820
© National Gallery of Scotland
Turner in January 2015 – The Vaughan Bequest 2015 begins at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, as it does every year, with the opening of ‘Turner in January’, an exhibition of the great collection of Turner watercolours bequeathed in 1900 by Sir Henry Vaughan. 1st − 31st January 2015.]]>
Source: National Galleries of Scotland
Henry Vaughan was a London art collector with a passion for Turner, who put together a group of works that encapsulates the artist’s entire career, choosing each with a connoisseur’s eye for quality. He stipulated that these delicate works should be ‘exhibited to the public all at one time, free of charge, during the month of January’, to limit their exposure to strong daylight. The display runs throughout the month and brings a welcome injection of light and colour during the darkest month of the year.
Turner exploited every possibility of the watercolour medium to create stunning land- and seascapes. The exquisite works in the Vaughan bequest range from early wash drawings of the 1790s, to the colourful, atmospheric and wonderfully expressive late works executed on visits to the Swiss Alps during the 1830s and 1840s. Other highlights include a series of spectacular views of Venice made during Turner’s third and final stay in the city in 1840 which demonstrate the artist’s consummate mastery of atmospheric lighting effects.
The artist’s life-long fascination with the drama of nature is also evident in works such as “Loch Coruisk, Skye” and his stormy treatment of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, a marvellous feat of engineering designed by Robert Stevenson and built on a submerged reef off the Angus coast, south-east of Arbroath, between 1807 and 1811.
Contrasting with these depictions of savage elemental forces, this year the exhibition will also feature a very fine watercolour on loan to the Gallery from a private collection. “Virginia Water” is one of a pair of views of the royal pleasure grounds and grand artificial lake in Windsor Great Park executed by Turner for King George IV in about 1829, although not in the end acquired for the Royal Collection. It depicts the King’s magnificent, opulent Royal barge on the lake, with the recently built Chinese Fishing Temple, designed by the architect Jeffry Wyatville, shown in the background. Also on display is Turner’s spectacular 1820 view of Rome, “Rome from Monte Mario”, which was accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the Gallery in 2011.
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Turner in January 2014 – National Galleries of Scotland (exhibition, 2014)
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