LONDON — To mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Britain’s greatest painter, the Royal Academy is holding a major commemorative exhibition of the watercolours of J.M.W. Turner RA. This
exhibition provides an unparalleled survey of the artist’s finished
watercolours, many of which rival his oils in their breadth of scale,
depth of tone, richness of colour and wealth of detail.
Turner: The Great Watercolours includes over 100 works and concentrates
on watercolours created for the public arena, in the form of
exhibitions, commissions from patrons, and works to be translated into
engravings.
The exhibition demonstrates Turner’s unique achievement in
exploring the scope and potential of watercolour and presents an
outstanding opportunity to see works that are not normally on public
display, with over 40 works on loan from private collections.
The watercolours range from an early detailed view of the Archbishop’s
Palace, Lambeth – the first work he ever exhibited at the Royal Academy
– to the Swiss scenes he produced at the end of his life. Included in
the exhibition are the many remarkable views of ruins, church buildings
and country houses that established the artist’s reputation among
patrons in the 1790s.
The rich and meticulously crafted watercolours created as models for engravings during the 1810s and ’20s demonstrate Turner’s ability to capture the character of British and continental
scenery. Included are the watercolours created for the Picturesque Views
in England and Wales series, which are generally considered to be the
finest views of the British landscape ever made. The exhibition
culminates with a group of Swiss watercolours from the 1840s, in which
Turner captured the beauty, luminosity and breathtaking spaces of the
Alps.
Throughout his career, J.M.W. Turner RA (1775 – 1851) maintained a close
relationship with the Royal Academy, and devoted a huge amount of time
and energy to the institution. A student at the RA Schools, he regularly
exhibited his watercolours from 1790 onwards and oil paintings from
1796. When he was elected a Royal Academician in 1802, at the age of
only 26, he was the youngest artist ever to have been awarded that
distinction. He was appointed Professor of Perspective in 1807, a post
he held for 30 years.
ORGANISATION
The exhibition has been co-curated by Eric Shanes and three other
leading Turner scholars, Evelyn Joll, Ian Warrell and Andrew Wilton,
together with Norman Rosenthal and MaryAnne Stevens of the Royal Academy
of Arts.
LOANS
Major loans to the exhibition have come from public collections in the
UK and the US, as well as over 40 loans from private collections.
CATALOGUE
A fully illustrated catalogue has been published by the Royal Academy of
Arts to accompany this major exhibition. It includes an introductory
essay by Eric Shanes, who also provides the catalogue entries, and
further essays by Evelyn Joll, Ian Warrell and Andrew Wilton. The
hardback edition of the catalogue (priced at £35) is being distributed
through bookshops worldwide. The softback edition (priced at £18.95)
will be available from the RA shop during the run of the exhibition.
Please see separate press release for further details.
DATES AND OPENING HOURS
Open to the public: Saturday 2 December 2000 – Sunday 18 February 2001
10am until 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm)
Late night opening: Fridays until 10pm (last admission 9.30pm)
Closed 24, 25 December 2000
ADMISSION
£7 full charge; £6 concessions; £5 full-time students; £2.50 12-18
years; £1.50 8-11 years.
TICKETS
Tickets are available each day from the Royal Academy, or in advance by
calling +44 (0)20 7300 5959; boxoffice@royalacademy.org.uk
