Guided tour · One artist · London · 1775–1851

J. M. W. Turner

Storms, fire, moonlight and golden haze, in order of date: from a Welsh castle to a storm at sea.

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Works

11

Time

about 17 min

Collections

4

About this tour

Joseph Mallord William Turner, the son of a London barber, painted light and weather like no one before him. Here are eleven of his works from four museums, in order of date. At every work, look first, then discover.

We begin on the coast of north Wales in 1798. Turner is 23.

The 11 works

1. 

   Work 1 of 11

   Conway Castle, North Wales

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1798 · J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

   Down on the shore, what are the fishermen doing?

   Struggling to pull their boats ashore in the storm. Next to the sea and the castle, they look tiny.

   Turner made several sketching trips to Wales in the 1790s. Here the sun breaks through the clouds onto the castle.

2. 

   Work 2 of 11

   Harlech Castle, from Tygwyn Ferry, Summer's Evening Twilight

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1799 · Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

   Where is Harlech Castle?

   Far away on its rock: a small, square silhouette against the evening sky.

   Turner painted the soft light just after sunset. That year, aged 24, he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy.

3. 

   Work 3 of 11

   The Victory Returning from Trafalgar, in Three Positions

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · about 1803–6 · Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

   Look at the three big ships. What do you notice?

   They are one and the same ship, HMS Victory, seen from three sides.

   Nelson's flagship won at Trafalgar, but Nelson was killed.

4. 

   Work 4 of 11

   The Junction of the Thames and the Medway

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1807 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   In the rowing boat, one man is in trouble. Can you find him?

   Near the stern, he hangs over the side, and another man holds on to him.

   Four sailing ships lean in the wind under a dark sky. Far off, sunlight breaks through onto one ship.

5. 

   Work 5 of 11

   Mortlake Terrace

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1827 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   Someone is walking along the top of the wall. Who?

   A black dog. Beside it, barely visible, a small white dog puts its front paws on the wall.

   A late afternoon by the Thames. The low sun turns everything gold, and boats full of people drift by.

6. 

   Work 6 of 11

   Staffa, Fingal's Cave

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · exhibited 1832 · Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

   What is battling the storm, trailing smoke?

   A steamboat, puffing a long trail of dark smoke into the storm.

   This was the first Turner painting to go to America. Its buyer at first complained that it looked indistinct; Turner suspected the varnish had clouded on the voyage, and advised wiping it.

7. 

   Work 7 of 11

   The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1835 · Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

   Boats are heading somewhere. Where to?

   Toward the flames. A low tide made it hard to pump water, and slowed the steamers towing fire engines.

   Turner saw the fire himself. In the painting he made the flames even higher than they were.

8. 

   Work 8 of 11

   Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1835 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   Turner signed this painting in an unusual place. Can you find it?

   On the buoy: his initials, JMWT.

   On the right, by firelight, men shovel coal onto the ships. On the left, the moon lights up the water.

9. 

   Work 9 of 11

   Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino

   Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1839 · J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

   Day is ending, yet something is already in the sky. What?

   The moon, a pale disc in the haze, while the sun sets behind the Capitoline Hill on the right.

   Turner showed it with a line from Byron: "The moon is up, and yet it is not night."

10. 

    Work 10 of 11

    The Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute, Venice

    Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1843 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

    Turner signed this one too. Where?

    His initials, JMWT, as if written on the wall.

    Venice dissolves in a golden haze: the customs house, the Dogana, and beyond it the white domes of the Salute church.

11. 

    Work 11 of 11

    Van Tromp, going about to please his Masters, Ships a Sea, getting a Good Wetting

    Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1844 · J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

    Someone on board is waving. Can you find him?

    On the foredeck, a man in a white uniform waves with confidence, while spray breaks over the bow.

    Probably the Dutch admiral Cornelis van Tromp, dismissed in 1666 and reconciled with his masters in 1673. Turner was 69.

The end of the tour

Light and weather.

Storms, fire, fog and sun: Turner made light and weather the subject itself. He died in London in 1851, aged 76, and left hundreds of paintings and thousands of drawings to the nation.

Questions at the end

Start this tour in Auriaan

Works from these collections

• J. Paul Getty Museum
• Yale Center for British Art
• National Gallery of Art
• Cleveland Museum of Art

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