J. M. W. Turner: Watercolors From Tate [sic]
Thompson Exhibition Building
Mystic Seaport, Connecticut
Through February 23, 2020
[Click on image for larger size]
How many musicians, athletes, and actors can you conjure who
were proclaimed gifted at an early age, believed their press clippings, and
lived like spoiled brats for the rest of their days? The artist Joseph
Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was a bit like that, except he really was
as good as billed. How often does a working-class kid with a Cockney accent get
admitted to London’s Royal Academy of Arts at age 14, or get to exhibit as a
15-year-old? How often does such a person go on to produce more than 32,000
paintings?
J. M. W. Turner was a true enfant terrible for all of
his days. He never married, but sired two daughters with his housekeeper. He
was also known for behaviors that some charitably labeled eccentric, but fall
more into the realm of the vulgarian: sloppy snuff habits, shabby
appurtenances, social ineptitude, and treatment of others that ran the narrow gamut
between disinterest and abuse. The portrayal of such behaviors is about the only
thing that makes Mike Leigh’s film Mr. Turner (2014) worth watching.
For all of that, J. M. W. Turner might well be the most
accomplished landscape painter in British history. There are just a few weeks
left to catch a show of 93 Turner watercolors and 4 of his oils. You should
make it happen if you humanly can; Mystic, Connecticut is the only place
in the entire country in which these loaners from London’s Tate Gallery have
been or will be on display. After February 23, they will be packed and sent off
to Paris before returning to the Tate.
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| Burning Ship |
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| Whitny |
Turner is known for dramatic skies and seascapes. He was so
talented that many of the watercolors on display are more akin to watery
sketches or studies for his oils than finished products, yet they are
nonetheless riveting. His Burning Ship (1830) is one such work. At first
it seems rough and tossed off on a whim. It probably was, but look deeply
through its monochromatic exterior and you’ll see a lot going on. Similarly, his
Harpooned Whale (1845) is at a glance just a wispy swirl of red, but it
too is much more than initially meets the eye. Another splendid piece is Wreckers
Coast of Northumberland (1836), where we see a team readying itself for
what is more likely to be a salvage rather than a rescue mission. As for sea
and sky, gaze upon a study of that name (1845) and you will see how Turner
wrenched so many shades from somber hues. For more drama, there is Whitny (1824),
with a stationary hillside castle standing in contrast to the choppy waters and
leaning boats beneath the cliffs.
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| Sea and Sky |
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| Lagoon at Sunset |
The Mystic exhibit also displays a landlocked Turner. He
loved architecture and travel. He produced studies of churches, Roman ruins,
and other such details. Venice was a favored destination, as seen in Venice:
Looking Across Lagoon at Sunset (1840) and his depiction of the famed
Bridge of Sighs. Switzerland was another frequent destination. Lake Lucerne was
the subject for one 1842 work; Lake Geneva for several others. Of course, he
also captured his native England in works far from the sea, examples of which
are Arundel Castle Upon River Arun (1824) and Sunset across the Park
from the Terrace of Petworth House (1827). He even dabbled in a bit of
painterly reportage in his Funeral of Sir Thomas Lawrence (1856). |
| Funeral of Sir Thomas... |
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| Artist and Admirers |
For all of that, one can’t help but think that the most
revealing of all the works on display is his 1827 The Artist and His
Admirers. A painter–himself in all likelihood–stands at his easel as a
several well-dressed ladies look on. Turner loved to play the genius and one
can imagine his brush stroking both paint and ego. That ego is also on display
in several works whose color has drained away. They need not have done so;
Turner insisted on using a carmine pigment that his contemporaries told him
would fade. He assuredly knew that, but that didn’t mean he gave a fig!
Rob Weir
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