KEY Magazine Fort Worth

Turner and Venice at the Kimbell Art Museum
Works by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851)

From February 15 until May 30, the Kimbell Art Museum presents the first exhibition ever devoted to Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner's works of Venice. This is the first Turner exhibition of such scale and importance to be seen in the United States since 1966. The "Turner and Venice" exhibition are pieces from the artist's visits to Venice from 1819 to his last in 1840.

Turner was born in London in 1775 to a barber William Turner and his wife Mary Marshall. Several drawings from his bequest to the the nation, housed in the Tate, are dated 1787 when he was 12. These works and dates support the tradition that William Turner sold his son's drawings to his customers.The young Turner studied under Thomas Malton briefly but made his debut as a painter in oils at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1796. He was elected a Royal Academian in 1802 at the age of 27.

The demand for architectural works led him to travel throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Works of subjects from his travels led to the exhibition of his oils at the Royal Academy in 1796.

Turner's first trip to the continent came in 1802. That tour took him to Paris, Lyons, Grenoble, Geneva and back to Paris through Strasbourg and Nancy. He produced 400 drawings from that trip and used scenes and images in other paintings for many years afterward.

It was during the extensive travels throughout England and Scotland from 1811 to 1831 that Turner's style became increasingly "luminous and atmospheric." Pictures like "Frosty Morning" (1813) and "Bligh Sands" (1815) "are entirely based on effects of light."

Turner, perhaps feeling he had exhausted the subjects in England, set out in the summer of 1819 on his first visit to Italy. By mid-winter, he had spent 3 months in Rome, visited Naples, Florence and Venice. During his time in Italy, Turner produced 1,500 drawings. His work with color now became "prismatic."

In 1851, Turner died at his cottage on the Thames at Chelsea, and is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

The Kimbell's "Turner and Venice" exhibition consists of 33 oils and 128 works on paper including The Rialto Bridge on the Canal, from near the Palazzo Grimani and Bridge of Sighs, Ducal Palace and Custom-House, Venice: Canaletti Painting. Timothy Potts director of the Kimbell Art Museum, says, "Turner's deep visual and emotional engagement with Europe's most famously romantic city resulted in some of the greatest masterpieces of the 19th Century."

Providing a context for Turner's Venetian work, his paintings will be shown alongside scenes of the city by contemporaries such as Richard Parkes Bonington, Clarkson Stanfield, Samuel Prout, and John Ruskin. "Turner and Venice" is organized by Tate Britain, and is curated by Ian Warrell, collections curator of Tate Britain. Tue.-Thu. & Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri. noon-8 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Gen. Adm. $12; Seniors 60+ & Students with an I.D. $10; children 6-11, $4 and children under 6, free. Tues. half-price. Acoustiguide Audio Tour is an additional $4 per person.

Items specifically chosen to complement "Turner and Venice," including an exhibition catalogue, are available in the Turner Exhibition Shop. 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., 817-332-8451, www.kimbellart.org.

Return to Table of Contents

This website designed, hosted and maintained for KEY Magazine Fort Worth by

...when it's time to establish an Internet presence.