This survey of JMW Turner’s marine painting covers everything from high-seas drama to the intimate calm of still waters in a show that brings together a spectacular range of works from national, international and private collections.
The array of oils, watercolours, sketches and prints reveal the technical versatility, personal passion and touches of controversial genius that sealed Turner’s reputation as one of Britain’s most inspired and inspiring painters.
The curators have created an exhibition that offers genuine insight into the artist’s method and mind.
First seascape show
It is surprising to learn that a show dedicated to the artist’s seascapes has not previously been mounted on such a scale (there are 120 items on display).
Recent Turner exhibitions have tended to be comparative, such as Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape (8 December 2012-17 February 2013) at the Royal Academy; and Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude (14 March-5 June 2012) at the National Gallery.
The most recent themed retrospective, Turner and the Elements (28 January 2012-13 May 2012) at Turner Contemporary, Margate, focused on paintings that combined water, earth, wind and fire. But his seascapes have not been the sole emphasis of a major show until now.
Turner’s lifelong fascination with the sea is well established, as is his ability to depict water and light in almost any mood or state imaginable. Visitors will encounter the full range and variety of Turner’s vision here, from sublime, Romantic scenes of death and destruction – storms, shipwrecks, battles – to wistful views of regional ports, or coastal communities going about their business on quiet shores.
By portraying the most mysterious and powerful of elements, Turner represented the human relationship to it. His subject is not really the sea at all, but the way it speaks to human vulnerability, our capacity for survival, and how it symbolises our ever-shifting emotional lives.
Raw force
The exhibition is largely chronological and broken down into comprehensible segments (with some entertainingly punning titles). The gallery is expertly curated, clearly labelled, and easily navigable.
While there may not be quite enough physical space in which to stand back and absorb the full impact of the paintings (particularly in the first room), the layout and hang is dense without seeming crowded.
From the very first room of early works it becomes clear that we are being given a privileged encounter with genius. It also becomes apparent that if you are prone to a touch of sea-sickness, this may not be the exhibition for you.
Highlights of this eye-popping hang include Fishermen at Sea, the first oil painting Turner exhibited at the Royal Academy.
In the sublime storm scene The Wreck of a Transport Ship, not seen in London since the 1970s, the raw force of nature is brought to the canvas with spectacular vivacity.
The viewer is forced to gaze in horror at people seconds away from violent death by shipwreck. Stranded in the middle of the sea, with no horizon or land to orient us, we are sucked into swirling waves with them.
Chartered Waters presents an opportunity to see fine examples of earlier marine paintings, and situates Turner’s seascapes within a wider art-historical context. Highly conscious of the past, the artist recognised that his own work would be measured against the achievements of the established masters of the genre.
Featured artists include Willem van de Velde in the 17th-century Dutch tradition, and important influencers of 18th-century French marine painting such as Claude-Joseph Vernet.
Works by British contemporaries (Constable and Gainsborough) offer insight into the conventions that Turner worked within and then broke away from. Rivalries with a younger generation of experimental artists caused Turner to be yet more innovative as he pulled away from convention in uninhibited style.
Battle of Trafalgar
Turner’s largest painting and only royal commission, The Battle of Trafalgar, dominates a small room. This is the only space where the content seemed less than the sum of its parts, which may have something to do with the nature and composition of the painting itself.
He did not paint many naval battle scenes, and it seems somehow un-Turnerish, lacking the spirit and conviction of his storms.
If the effect of this room falls a little flat, however, it is more than made up for by the addition of the artist’s watercolours and sketchbooks. These are a welcome contrast to the high drama of the large-scale oils, and are perhaps the most exciting elements of a show that becomes increasingly personal as it progresses.
Turner travelled extensively on the coasts of Britain and Europe, never without his art materials. Many of the sketchbooks document his travels, while other works on paper show evidence of spontaneous technical experimentation.
Getting up close to small, impulsive studies and witnessing the working out of his adaptable, evolving technique is almost like reading the artist’s diary. You certainly feel as though you are seeing through his eyes and, at the same time, trying to enter into his imagination.
Swirling currents
The culmination of the show is in the breathtaking section of late and unfinished works, titled Making Waves. The final seascapes of Turner’s career are free of generic constraint and redolent of unbridled creativity.
They also show why critics often viewed his later style as dissolute, eccentric or incomprehensible, shocked as they were by near-abstract representations of sea and sky. These final paintings seem incredibly daring, even modern, and offer a reflection on Turner’s influence on future artistic developments.
Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth is a stunning, beautiful swirling vortex (“swirling” is a word that springs repeatedly to mind in this show) with a smudgy steamboat struggling at the centre.
This is said to be the painting Turner produced after being tied to the mast of an actual ship in a storm; whether myth or reality, the artist’s capacity to render such an experience in paint is inarguable.
As someone who grew up in the sort of coastal town that Turner may have sketched, I left feeling nostalgic for the seascapes of my childhood, and emotionally attuned to the link the sea forges between past and present.
Visitors will find something to connect to, whether they are attending as a Turner expert or a novice. The smell and sting of salt-spray are all but tangible.
Katty Pearce is a curator at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London
The array of oils, watercolours, sketches and prints reveal the technical versatility, personal passion and touches of controversial genius that sealed Turner’s reputation as one of Britain’s most inspired and inspiring painters.
The curators have created an exhibition that offers genuine insight into the artist’s method and mind.
First seascape show
It is surprising to learn that a show dedicated to the artist’s seascapes has not previously been mounted on such a scale (there are 120 items on display).
Recent Turner exhibitions have tended to be comparative, such as Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape (8 December 2012-17 February 2013) at the Royal Academy; and Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude (14 March-5 June 2012) at the National Gallery.
The most recent themed retrospective, Turner and the Elements (28 January 2012-13 May 2012) at Turner Contemporary, Margate, focused on paintings that combined water, earth, wind and fire. But his seascapes have not been the sole emphasis of a major show until now.
Turner’s lifelong fascination with the sea is well established, as is his ability to depict water and light in almost any mood or state imaginable. Visitors will encounter the full range and variety of Turner’s vision here, from sublime, Romantic scenes of death and destruction – storms, shipwrecks, battles – to wistful views of regional ports, or coastal communities going about their business on quiet shores.
By portraying the most mysterious and powerful of elements, Turner represented the human relationship to it. His subject is not really the sea at all, but the way it speaks to human vulnerability, our capacity for survival, and how it symbolises our ever-shifting emotional lives.
Raw force
The exhibition is largely chronological and broken down into comprehensible segments (with some entertainingly punning titles). The gallery is expertly curated, clearly labelled, and easily navigable.
While there may not be quite enough physical space in which to stand back and absorb the full impact of the paintings (particularly in the first room), the layout and hang is dense without seeming crowded.
From the very first room of early works it becomes clear that we are being given a privileged encounter with genius. It also becomes apparent that if you are prone to a touch of sea-sickness, this may not be the exhibition for you.
Highlights of this eye-popping hang include Fishermen at Sea, the first oil painting Turner exhibited at the Royal Academy.
In the sublime storm scene The Wreck of a Transport Ship, not seen in London since the 1970s, the raw force of nature is brought to the canvas with spectacular vivacity.
The viewer is forced to gaze in horror at people seconds away from violent death by shipwreck. Stranded in the middle of the sea, with no horizon or land to orient us, we are sucked into swirling waves with them.
Chartered Waters presents an opportunity to see fine examples of earlier marine paintings, and situates Turner’s seascapes within a wider art-historical context. Highly conscious of the past, the artist recognised that his own work would be measured against the achievements of the established masters of the genre.
Featured artists include Willem van de Velde in the 17th-century Dutch tradition, and important influencers of 18th-century French marine painting such as Claude-Joseph Vernet.
Works by British contemporaries (Constable and Gainsborough) offer insight into the conventions that Turner worked within and then broke away from. Rivalries with a younger generation of experimental artists caused Turner to be yet more innovative as he pulled away from convention in uninhibited style.
Battle of Trafalgar
Turner’s largest painting and only royal commission, The Battle of Trafalgar, dominates a small room. This is the only space where the content seemed less than the sum of its parts, which may have something to do with the nature and composition of the painting itself.
He did not paint many naval battle scenes, and it seems somehow un-Turnerish, lacking the spirit and conviction of his storms.
If the effect of this room falls a little flat, however, it is more than made up for by the addition of the artist’s watercolours and sketchbooks. These are a welcome contrast to the high drama of the large-scale oils, and are perhaps the most exciting elements of a show that becomes increasingly personal as it progresses.
Turner travelled extensively on the coasts of Britain and Europe, never without his art materials. Many of the sketchbooks document his travels, while other works on paper show evidence of spontaneous technical experimentation.
Getting up close to small, impulsive studies and witnessing the working out of his adaptable, evolving technique is almost like reading the artist’s diary. You certainly feel as though you are seeing through his eyes and, at the same time, trying to enter into his imagination.
Swirling currents
The culmination of the show is in the breathtaking section of late and unfinished works, titled Making Waves. The final seascapes of Turner’s career are free of generic constraint and redolent of unbridled creativity.
They also show why critics often viewed his later style as dissolute, eccentric or incomprehensible, shocked as they were by near-abstract representations of sea and sky. These final paintings seem incredibly daring, even modern, and offer a reflection on Turner’s influence on future artistic developments.
Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth is a stunning, beautiful swirling vortex (“swirling” is a word that springs repeatedly to mind in this show) with a smudgy steamboat struggling at the centre.
This is said to be the painting Turner produced after being tied to the mast of an actual ship in a storm; whether myth or reality, the artist’s capacity to render such an experience in paint is inarguable.
As someone who grew up in the sort of coastal town that Turner may have sketched, I left feeling nostalgic for the seascapes of my childhood, and emotionally attuned to the link the sea forges between past and present.
Visitors will find something to connect to, whether they are attending as a Turner expert or a novice. The smell and sting of salt-spray are all but tangible.
Katty Pearce is a curator at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Project data
- Cost Undisclosed
- Curators Christine Riding; Richard Johns
- Exhibition design Design Studio, National Maritime Museum
- Graphic design Julia
- Lighting design Lux Lucis
- Audioguide production Antenna International
- Contract administration, quantity surveying and CDM-C Flemming Associates
- Exhibition strip out and build The Hub
- Transport Constantine
- Exhibition ends 21 April
