Joseph Mallord William Turner
Peace – Burial at Sea
Exhibited 1842
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Sun Setting over a Lake
circa 1840
Turner from the Tate – The Making of a Master The Art Gallery of South Australia hosts ‘Turner from the Tate – The Making of a Master’, the first major Australian exhibition of the work of iconic British artist J.M.W. Turner in almost 20 years. 8 February – 19 May 2013]]>
Source: Art Gallery of South Australia
The exhibition provides an introduction to the great nineteenth-centurylandscape painter – Joseph Mallord William Turner – and to the collection of his works at TateBritain. Drawing on the comprehensive range of oil paintings, watercolours and sketchbooks that formthe Turner Bequest, the exhibition explores Turner’s innovative creative processes that have inspiredsuccessive generations of artists.
Art Gallery of South Australia Director, Nick Mitzevich said “Turner from the Tate marks a return ofgrand international exhibitions to the Art Gallery of South Australia, both in terms of artisticscholarship and popular programming. It also represents a rare opportunity for Australian audiencesto experience why J.M.W. Turner is acclaimed as one of the greatest landscape painters of all time.”
Turner dominated the art world in Britain for over forty years, creating images that document adramatic period of political change and bore witness to the advance of industrial developments. ButTurner was just as susceptible to the tranquil charms of the Thames valley or the pastoral splendor of‘Capability’ Brown’s park at Petworth. Stunning watercolours from all periods of his working life reflecthis extensive travels in Britain and in Europe, culminating in his atmospheric views of Venice andSwitzerland.
Turner from the Tate presents over 40 oil paintings and 60 watercolours. The exhibition provides anintimate overview of Turner’s career as an artist, drawing on the uniquely rich and personal range ofmaterial that he bequeathed to the British nation. It includes ‘finished’ paintings that Turner exhibitedin his lifetime, many of which proved controversial with their first audiences, as well as the revelatorycanvases that only came to light after his death, such as “Stormy Sea with Dolphins” (c.1835–40), or thehaunting painting called “A Disaster at Sea” (c.1835), which records the shipwreck of a convict boatbound for Australia. His studio also contained countless sheets of paper on which he set down ideasin watercolour that still seem as fresh as when they were painted, as well as hundreds of sketchbooks,some of which will be shown for the first time in Australia. Only through this comprehensivecollection can audiences travel back in time and join Turner as he drew and painted his way throughlife, observing his development from a precocious thirteen year old boy to one of the greatestpainters of nature’s light, colour and atmosphere.
Related content
Turner in January: the Vaughan Bequest – NGA Scotland (exhibition, January 2013)
Follow us on:
