Week 8

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15 & 16 JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER (1775-1851)

 

It is irresistible to compare the work of Turner with that of Constable. Talented and prolific, Turner was afforded recognition early in his career (he was made a member of the Royal Academy in 1802, quarter of a century before Constable, for example), and was admired by many influential critics like Ruskin. Born in London, Turner might be thought of as an urban painter of landscapes, as opposed to the country-born Constable. Turner’s works typically show nature at its most spectacular and often included references to historical subject matter, matching notions of high art in a way that Constable’s less pretentious local subject matter did not. More recent writers have suggested that Turner was conscious of the social changes taking place at the time, in that he reflects aspects of industrialisation, for example, and the comparison has once again not been to Constable’s advantage.

 

Although Turner painted many of his works in England, he travelled widely and depicted some of the grandest European landscapes. He worked in watercolour to facilitate painting on the spot and the freedom of the technique influenced his use of oils. He was profoundly interested in light effects, which seem often to dissolve the details of his subject matter. Some of his late works are colour studies that still evoke landscapes but seem very ‘modern’ in their resemblance to 20^th-century abstractions.

 

15 & 16 READINGS

 

There is a profusion of books on the work of Turner, examining his landscapes in virtually every decade and every country that he visited. I have listed a number of the more recent publications in the general bibliography. The most common approach is to treat him as a romantic painter. Here I list a few texts that offer a different reading.

 

Daniels, Stephen. ‘The implications of industry: Turner and Leeds’ in S Pugh. Reading landscape. Country - city - capital. Manchester University Press, 1990, pp 66-80.

Nicholson, Kathleen. Turner’s classical landscapes: myth and meaning. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

Pointon, Marcia. ‘Aesthetics and commodity: an examination of the function of the verbal in Turner’s artistic practice’ in S Pugh. Reading landscape. Country - city - capital. Manchester University Press, 1990, 81-96.

Rodner, William. J.M.W. Turner: Romantic painter of the Industrial Revolution. Berkeley: California Press, 1997.

 

Slide List Lectures 15 & 16: J W M TURNER (1775-1851)

1.           Peterborough Cathedral from the North. watercolour. 1794. Private coll.

2.           Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. watercolour. 1796. Wolverhampton Art Gall.

3.           Salisbury Cathedral. watercolour. 1797-1802. Victoria and Albert.

4.           Cascade at Hampton Court. watercolour. 1795. V&A

5.           Buttermere Lake. 1798. Tate Gallery. London

6.           Morning amongst the Coniston Fells. 1798. Tate.

7.           The Thames near Walton Bridge. 1807. Tate.

8.           Willows Beside a Stream. 1807. Tate.

9.           Somer Hill, Tonbridge. 1811. Nat. Gall, Edinburgh.

10.           cf Constable Wivenhoe Park. 1816. Nat Gall, Washington.

11.       Abingdon. 1808-10. Tate.

12.        cf Constable The White Horse. 1819. Frick Coll, New York.

13.       Stonehenge. watercolour. 1825-8. Priv. Coll.

14.           cf Constable Stonehenge.  watercolour. 1836. V&A.

15.       The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons. 1810. Tate.

16.           cf De Loutherbourg An Avalanche in the Alps. 1803. Tate.

17.       Eruption of the Souffrier Mountains. 1815. Univ, Liverpool.

18.           cf Wright of Derby An Eruption of Vesuvius seen from Portici. 1774-6.     Wales

19.       Shade and Darkness, the Evening of the Deluge. 1843. Tate.

20.           cf John Martin. The Deluge. 1854.

21.       Pilate Washing his Hands. 1830. Tate Gall, London.

22.           cf Rembrandt Saul listening to David playing the harp. 1658. The Hague.

23.       Calais Pier. 1807. Tate Gall, London.

24.           cf Ruisdael Rough Sea. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

25.       Sun Rising through Vapour. 1807. Nat Gall, London.

26.           cf Cuyp River Scene with a view of Dordrecht. Wallace coll, London.

27.       Crossing the Brook. 1815. Tate.

28.           cf Claude Hagar and the Angel. 1644. Nat. Gall, London.

29.       Dido Building Carthage. 1815. Nat. Gall, London.

30.           cf Claude Embarkation of St Ursula. 1641. Nat. Gall, London.

31.       Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps. 1812. Tate.

32.       The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire. 1819. Tate.

33.       Ploughing up Turnips near Slough (Windsor). 1809. Tate.

34.       Frosty Morning. 1813. Tate.

35.       Lancaster Sands. watercolour. 1826. British Mus, London. Print. 1826.

36.       Petworth Park. 1830. Tate.

37.       Interior at Petworth. 1837. Tate. (and sketches)

38.       Slave Ship. 1840. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

39.       Peace: Burial at Sea. 1841-42. Tate.

40.       The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. watercolours. 1834. Tate.

41.       The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. 1835. Philadelphia Mus. of Art.

42.       The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. 1835. Cleveland Mus. of Art.

43.       Keelmen Heaving Coals by Moonlight. 1835. Nat. Gall, Washington.

44.       The Fighting Temeraire. 1839. Nat Gall, London.

45.       Rain, Steam, Speed: The Great Western Railway. 1844. Nat Gall, London.

46.       Snow Storm at Sea: Steam Boat off the Harbour’s Mouth. 1842. Tate.

47.       Yacht Approaching the Coast. 1840-45. Tate.

48.       Fishermen at Sea off the Needles. 1796. Tate.

49.       Vignette of Fingal’s Cave. engraving. 1834.

50.       Rough Sea. 1830-35. Tate.

51.       Sunrise with Sea Monsters. 1840-45. Tate.

52.       Sketchbook studies 1823; Colour beginnings 1819.

53.       Dogana and S Giorgio Maggiore. watercolour. 1834. Nat Gall, Washington.

54.       Venice: Dogana and S Maria Salute. 1843. Nat Gall, Washington.

55.       A Town on the River at Sunset. watercolour. 1833. Tate.

56.           cf Claude Monet Impression: Sunrise. 1872. Paris.

57.       Somer Hill, Tonbridge. 1811. Nat. Gall, Edinburgh.

58.       Norham Castle: Sunrise. 1845. Tate.