Turner
is my favorite artist. His
paintings and engravings of Venice and the vivid reds, oranges, and blacks
depicting London in the aftermath of the eruption of Tambora have, despite
their differences in technique and subjects, always enthralled me. However, I must confess to being less
familiar with the genre he was most noted for during his lifetime: seascapes.
I
received an unexpected invitation to the premier of Turner & the Sea at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. This is the only venue in North America
for this exhibition produced by the national Maritime Museum in London— how
could I say no to that?
Joseph
Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was the preeminent artist of his day. By 1786 he was producing drawings that
sold in his father’s London barbershop and his first watercolor was accepted
for the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition in 1790 when he was only 15 years
old. His first oil painting,
“Fishermen at Sea” was exhibited in 1796 and is the first viewed when entering
the exhibition in the Peabody Essex Museum.
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| "Fishermen At Sea" Tate, London |
“Fisherman
at Sea” would be a notable painting in the career of any artist, but this was
Turner’s first oil. The technical
command of pigment and brush creates a realism that is dramatized by the
luminescence of moonlight in a scene that was created 50 years before the
advent of “Luminism” in landscape painting by the Hudson River School. It is in the tradition of European
maritime paintings of the era and immediately it catapulted Turner into
rock-star fame. For the rest of
his life, artists, collectors, and critics would hang on every word he uttered
and scrutinized every piece of work he exhibited.
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| "Pembroke Castle: Clearing Up of a Thunder-Storm" (1806) watercolor, University of Toronto |
The
exhibition includes over 100 pieces: some are by artists that influenced Turner
and others by those influenced by him.
A notable aspect is that all genre of Turner’s work—sketches, studies,
print engravings, watercolors, and oils—are included.
I
happen to own an antique print engraving of Turner’s painting, “Venice--From
the Canal of the Guidecca” (1842) that was published in 1862 (en. E. Branard,
pub. D. Appleton & Co.). It
represents the growing interest by Americans in the artist’s works only 11 years
after his death, but is a steel engraving printed in black ink and therefore
doesn’t show the command of the palette Turner used in the original oil. It also represents another engraver’s
hand and the replication of a painting.
Turner’s engravings, on the other hand, were not replications, but a
medium in its own right and which were held in great regard during his own
lifetime. This exhibition includes
a number of original prints from “Liber Studiorum” (1806-1819) and, of course,
they look completely different from what I own. Also, the precision and lines engraved in Turner’s own
prints can sometimes be seen as elements—usually for a ship’s rigging—in his
seascapes.
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| "The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805" National Maritime Museum, London |
This
brings me to a monumental piece—I certainly can’t describe all this exhibition
has to offer—“The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805” (1823-24). For me it contains all of Turner’s
techniques and more than a bit of controversy. First and foremost, this Royal commission from King George
IV is representational and not historically accurate—something naval critics
were quick to point out. At a time
when painters were considered to be visual chroniclers, this painting marks a
departure into representationalism since it contains elements that happened at
different times during the historical naval battle. Furthermore, the HMS Victory is shown floating exceptionally
high above waterline, a bit of Turnerism seen in many of his paintings of
ships. There’s much more to be
said about the symbolism and design elements in this work, but what struck
me—and this is something that can’t be appreciated looking at a photograph or
museum print—is how the foreground is pure oil-painting technique, but the
background look like watercolor (it’s oil), and the details of the HMS
Victory—especially the cannon, rigging, and sails—have an engraver’s line
precision.
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| "The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore" National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
As
previously mentioned, I’m a fan of his Venetian paintings, and “The Dogana and
San Giorgio Maggiore” (1834) is here on loan for the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, DC. There’s no doubt
that he was a master, nor was there any doubt that this type and quality of
work is what his patrons desired.
In fact, this painting and the contrasting “Keelmen Heaving in Coals by
Moonlight” were created for Henry McConnel of Manchester. For me this marks a
turning point in his work, a point where he begins to depart from traditional styles
and begins to develop his earlier studies into finished works of art.
During
the early 1840’s his seascapes took on a form that later would become known as
Impressionism, although at the time they merely confused his advocates and
provided fuel for his critics. His
exhibited work, “Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off at Harbour’s Mouth,” was such a
painting. A steamer almost
completely obscured by driving waves and a fierce snow squall, it’s as
difficult to describe now as when first shown at the Royal Academy in
1842. This oil painting was one of
those that I wasn’t allowed to photograph, but the dramatic brushstrokes convey
the violence of the storm and an impression of desperate drama.
Other
paintings (not exhibited) during these last years of his life—Rocket and Blue
Lights to Warn Steam Boats of Shoal Water (1840); Slavers Throwing Overboard
the Dead and Dying – Typhoon Coming On (1840); Peace – Burial at Sea (1842);
and Whalers (1845)—would set the stage for later works by Whistler, Sargent,
Moran, and Winslow Homer. Fortunately, it was his exalted reputation that allowed these
visionary works to survive despite critic’s claims that his mind had become unhinged. J.M.W. Turner’s paintings demonstrate
how the work of a single artist can change not only the history of Western art,
but how we how we visually perceive the world. This exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum (May 31 –
September 1, 2014) is not to be missed.
All photos with the permission of the Peabody Essex Museum.
