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CONTESTED WATERS
АПРЕЛЬ 2014
# 197
which Snow Storm—Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth is a
prime example—that revealed a deepening interest in the open
sea and a quest to capture in paint the atmospheric effects and
the emotional experience of being a vulnerable human being in
an overwhelming tempest. Turner’s last works, whether finished
paintings destined for the Academy exhibition room or
unfinished ‘works-in-progress’, attest to the extraordinary path
his career had followed. It left the impression of a lifelong
creative engagement with the sea that remained, inevitably,
unresolved.
ATLANTIC CROSSINGS
Turner enjoyed the public acclaim he received and relished the
sense of competition that was encouraged by the London art
world. He followed his fellow artists closely, especially those he
most admired, and was quick to respond if ever their work
threatened to overshadow his own. In the 1820s, a new
generation of marine painters emerged to challenge his position.
They often followed Turner’s example by emulating the style of
painting that had first brought him to public attention. Turner
responded by taking his work in a new direction. Most notably,
he developed a new approach to epic history painting. In The
Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 Turner alludes to the death
of a single hero, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, within the
context of the entire battle, all moments leading to victory
shown at once in a feat of collapsed time and space.
IMAGINING THE SEA
Turner was rarely without a sketchbook and colors, whether
working at home or during his many journeys throughout
Britain and on the Continent. At the end of his life, around
20,000 of his drawings and watercolors, together with numerous
unfinished oil paintings, were left to the British people as the
Turner Bequest. Works in this section, including the 1845
watercolor, Whalers at Sea at Sunset, shed light on the more
enigmatic aspect of Turner’s artistic pursuit of the sea. Some
provide a unique insight into his travels – which, by sea, were
frequent but short and mainly coastal – while others reveal a
spontaneous, experimental side to his studio practice. Since his
death in 1851, these once-private studies have helped shape
Turner’s reputation as much as the oil paintings and watercolors
that were finished and exhibited during his lifetime.
MAKING WAVES
Turner’s final seascapes were unbound by the established rules
and conventions of maritime art. His exhibited works continued
to divide opinion by representing the sea in obviously modern
ways. He also began a series of experimental canvases—of
At the time of Turner’s death in 1851, only a handful of his
original works had traveled across the Atlantic but his influence
among American artists was profound. Some saw them on trips
to Great Britain while others viewed only his more widely
disseminated prints. American identity was deeply intertwined
with first-hand experiences of the sea, and artistic expressions
of exposure to unrestrained nature—as in popular literary works
by Poe, Cooper, Melville and Dana—were perceived as
inherently American. Turner’s artistic legacy resounded with
America’s most prominent painters well into the twentieth
century, and continues unabated today. James Abbott McNeill
Whistler’s admiration of Turner is evident in his Crepuscule in
Flesh Colour and Green: Valparaiso in which the painter
employs subtle harmonies of color and their suggestive mood to
evoke the feeling of twilight. The extraordinary quality of the
works gathered together for Turner & the Sea confirms the
artist’s status as the pre-eminent painter of water, and
demonstrates his unique ability to represent the elemental power
of the sea. The exhibition features items on loan from some of
the world’s most prestigious artistic institutions including: Tate
Britain, Yale Center for British Art, British Museum, Victoria
and Albert Museum, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Kimbell
Art Museum and National Gallery of Art, Washington.
INFO:
Call: 866-745-1876
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