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Inspiration from Artists Week 17 . J W M Turner
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Posted
Overall I think I prefer his watercolours to his oils - these two of Salisbury Cathedral are beautiful.
Of his oils, the one I most prefer is the one Alan had said he wouldn’t be including! - the Fighting Temeraire. Painted in 1839 it’s apparently one of his best preserved works because he used relatively standard paint for it unlike a lot of his other work. It was an idealised tribute to one of the ‘heroines of the Battle of Trafalgar’ - by the time the ship was taken on its last journey to be broken up, parts of it had already been recycled and it no longer had its three masts. Painted in gold and white, it almost appears as the ghost of the ship it once was. Despite various offers, Turner wouldn’t sell the painting and kept it until he died.
Of his oils, the one I most prefer is the one Alan had said he wouldn’t be including! - the Fighting Temeraire. Painted in 1839 it’s apparently one of his best preserved works because he used relatively standard paint for it unlike a lot of his other work. It was an idealised tribute to one of the ‘heroines of the Battle of Trafalgar’ - by the time the ship was taken on its last journey to be broken up, parts of it had already been recycled and it no longer had its three masts. Painted in gold and white, it almost appears as the ghost of the ship it once was. Despite various offers, Turner wouldn’t sell the painting and kept it until he died.
Edited
by Jenny Harris
Posted
This has been an interesting thread, thanks to Alan for putting it together (and all the other contributors on different artists). I have mixed feelings about Turner. Unquestionably a great and innovative artist, he got into impressionism long before anybody knew what it was, and, arguably, abstraction. I prefer to think of great art in terms of great individual paintings, rather than accepting any artist's whole body of work as 'great.' By that measure Turner is a GREAT artist, but much of his work doesn't appeal to me.
I wonder if all of it was intended to be seen. Some of the 'sunset' pictures at the start of this thread look like the artists shorthand pictorial notes, and surely were never intended to be exhibited. This has happened to many artists. Degas is a prime example, after his death they found masses of previously unseen work...Degas was a great experimenter...one wonders how he would have reacted to having it pored over and dissected by modern art critics.
Posted
I agree with Lewis’s comments re the sunset pictures which were surely the sort of initial sketches with a view to a later painting and not really intended for exhibition. Obviously a sunset needs to be captured quickly before it disappears.
I prefer Turner’s oils to his watercolours while appreciating his obvious skill . Of the work chosen here I like especially Alan’s first selection of the boats , Jenny’s Loch Lomond, the North of England sketchbooks, Dixie’s Venice and the one below it, and of course The Fighting Temeraire.
Someone mentioned viewing exhibitions of the old masters in darkened rooms and while I realise the reason I do find this frustrating although always good to see in the flesh and see the brush marks etc.
another good thread with excellent background information from Alan in particular.
Edited
by Tessa Gwynne
Posted
Lew is right… Turner’s sketch books were never intended to be on show, any more than mine aren’t! (not that anyone would want to look at mine).
Yes, some work is undoubtedly more appealing (I nearly said better) than others, but overall, there’s no disputing that he was a genius in his own right.
I also liked the Salisbury Cathedral interiors and I’m pleased that Jenny has included ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ in her selection. It is undoubtedly one of his greatest masterpieces, (so inevitably flogged to death commercially in print), the sunset part of it was created by repeated scumbling and glazing techniques, and probably over a considerable length of time… Turner was known for returning to his paintings and reworking them long after they were dry - not always recommended these days!
I’m pleased that this has been of some interest to us all, I believe I’ve also got John Constable coming up in the future… plenty to discuss here also I suspect!
Posted
Norrette would you like me to add Milind Mulick to the list for future viewing .If he's good enough to stand against the others :-) He's possibly more for the beginners like me. I have to go out now, but if I can find one or two others from the same 'school' (my description) it might be useful to compare. Thanks Paul
Edited
by Norrette Moore
Posted
It’s nothing to do with him being able to stand with the other artists already discussed it’s about his work and why it inspires people. Inevitably some will not like his work but we have just seen that with Turner and others over the past weeks.
It will make a refreshing change to have some unknown modern artists and the opportunity to see work we would not normally see. I will add him to the list and if you know other artist please let’s have their names .
Posted
We here we are at the end of another week, I would like to thank Alan for the information and paintings he shared with us.
It certainly changed my views about Turner , but I have to admit that in still not overfond of his oils, his watercolours and sketches are a different thing altogether. I will be posting the Bonus artist fir this weekend shortly and on Sunday I will start next weeks thread the featured artist are Miro and Alister Butt , hope you have a good weekend.