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Inspiration from Artists Week 17 . J W M Turner

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Alan Bickley

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Here’s just a few of Turner’s watercolours of Venice, painted during his visit in 1840. Just look how he’s mastered the atmosphere!

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Marjorie Firth

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I agree with Linda about the palette, it doesn’t conjure up Venice…..more like Shanghai….just joking.  The examples above are delicate and beautiful - was it Jenny who used the word “ethereal”? It’s a fitting description. I’ve seen some of Turner’s sketch books and watercolours in touring exhibitions, they’re fascinating - some of the delicate detail is amazing, also the make up of the books themselves….and the paper.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Interesting that both artist paint Venice in their own choice of pallet, we accept Turners colours as more the norm, but I wonder if the brighter colours are what’s accepted as the norm for Lam and his audience. For  centuries brighter colours of clothing etc has been the norm in Asia , our colours may be seen a very dull in comparison. I like both artist and would not compare the as each is interpreting what they see and how they see it.  I do like a lot of Turner's sketches and watercolours but I’m not very keen on a lot of his oils . 
michael

Michael Edwards

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I'm with you Paul - for me the scene/location is only the starting point - beyond that it's down to interpretation and artistic licence and for me, whilst I do agree that Lam's isn't evocative of Venice (and isn't one of his best anyway) I accept it for what it is. Certainly his colours are not those you would normally associate with Venice but the same goes, it seems to me,  for some of the colours and their placement in the Turner paintings.

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Norrette Moore

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I agree with most, that to me Turner's watercolours are easier on the eye than his oils.  Thanks for the introduction to the work of Lam, his palette reminds me of Milind Mulick and the Indian group who paint in much the same way.  Let there be colour, something the camera cannot do.
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Tony Auffret

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I just wonder if Turner painted what he saw, but Lam painted what the architects saw.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Turner wasn't above exaggeration - eg the story of the woman who said to him she'd never seen the sky that colour before, to which he replied "Yes Madam, but don't you wish you had?"; her reply not recorded....   But his exaggeration was intentional, considered, and in my view brilliant.  His oils, people say, vary in quality - I think one has to remember that he had a very long career: I saw some VERY ordinary Turners at Petworth House a good few years ago, easily outshone by a magnificent Fuseli.   They were however early works - I say with neither pretence nor admiration that I could have painted them myself: his later oil paintings are a very different kettle of fish - and I am certain damn' sure I couldn't have painted them!  If only .... 
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Norrette  would you like me to add Milind Mulick to the list for future viewing .

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Jenny Harris

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Paul, a request to please add Walter Langley to your list.  (Thought I’d also bring this thread back up again, it had dropped out of sight.)

Denise Cat

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There is some speculation that Turner had slight colour blindness from an early age and later in life painted exactly what he saw due to cataracts and the deterioration of his eyesight. That is just some stuff I read. Apparently a few of the masters suffered with eye problems.

Alan Bickley

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Just remembered I’m doing the second half of the week showcasing his oils… I’ll work on it now!

Alan Bickley

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Here we go then, I’ve kept it brief this time. Turner’s oil paintings are more well known by the general public than his watercolours, probably because so many of them went into print. He was a prolific painter as we all know, he bequeathed something like 3,000 oil paintings to the Tate on his death…(I hope I’ve got that figure right!) We’re all familiar with his most famous works, but I’ve selected a few lesser known ones for your comments. View of the beach at Margate Calais sands at low water The New Moon Approach to Venice
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