Turner on Tour

Luminous exhibition at the National Gallery of two Turner’s on loan from the Frick.

The pictures look beautiful in the space and shine out from the wall. Both are pictures of harbours, Dieppe and Cologne, and from 1825. They are monumental in size and clearer than some later Turner’s. They look beautiful together from a distance but then they pull you in to look at the details such as a dog drinking from the river and a barge of belongings being unloaded.

Although it is a small show the commentaries are excellent, looking at Turner’s relationship with the Old Masters and his travels. There is a good timeline of his journeys with pictures from them.  It explained how there were over 37,000 pages of drawings and watercolours in his studio when he died many of them made on his travels.

Closes 19 February 2023

Review

Telegraph


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