Andrew Marr opens Turner’s English Coasts exhibition

“In a small show like this, in a domestic space, which Turner himself knew very well, you are able to dwell on a relatively modest number of absolutely beautiful pictures and look at them for some time in detail. And these are some of the most gorgeous works by Turner. They may be small but they are utterly gorgeous and everyone who comes here is going to be transformed by them.”

Andrew Marr, whose TV series, Great Paintings of the World, included a programme about JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire last year, made comparisons to current COVID-19 travel restrictions and The Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1815 which had forced British people to take staycations along the English riviera.

“This is absolutely the right time for a Turner sea show…because most of us are trapped on the island.”

“Turner was a great British patriot but he was not a xenophobe in any sense. For Turner, the regular trips to Switzerland and to Venice were absolutely essential to his art. And his looking at Italian and above all Dutch art again and again. He was always looking outwards but his great love was for these islands and particularly the sea. He went round all the estuaries and harbours and coasts looking at them in detail as you can see upstairs.”

Guest curator of the exhibition, Christine Riding, Head of the Curatorial Department and Head Curator of British Art at The National Gallery and formerly of Tate Britain and The National Maritime Museum said,

“I’ve worked on a lot of exhibitions…but this is the first time I’ve worked on an exhibition in a house that the artist actually lived in, and what makes it even more special is that he actually designed and built the house, so this is a really special moment for me to have that intimate connection between the work of the artist and the house where he lived.”

Christine explained how Turner enjoyed and was energised by the sea and maritime heritage,

“This was someone who intimately understood, visited and immersed himself in these places and saw himself as a traveller artist and was very aware of past artists particularly Dutch artists of the 17^th century and the misadventurer…experiencing storms to better understand the power of nature.”

“There was a lot invested in Turner’s responses to the sea; it’s not just about British tourism which developed during the Napoleonic war period…but also about British identity, about artistic identity and about the maritime nation, which is why the works upstairs are not only a very personal response but also a national response to the sea, so I’m hoping that is what people will get out of it.”

Other Turner experts attending the exhibition, hung in what is thought to be Turner’s father’s bedroom upstairs, included Franny Moyle,  whose biography, The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of JMW Turner was published in 2016 to critical acclaim and whose latest book The King’s Painter is published this week and was serialised this month on Radio Four’s Book of the Week  had this to say of the exhibition,

“It’s an exquisite exhibition. You sometimes forget the brilliance of Turner’s sense of colour when he is working in watercolours. They are like little jewels, the watercolours on show here. The exhibition reminds us that Turner was a really popular artist and that in his time …(he was) finding ways of giving a wider public access to his work. Well worth a visit.”

To learn more about J.M.W. Turner’s life and times watch this specially commissioned seven minute video by Turner’s House Trust of Franny Moyle here.

Turner’s English Coasts runs until Sunday 5^th September 2021, Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm. Prebooking is essential via turnershouse.org. Turner’s House, Sandycombe Lodge, 40 Sandycoombe Road, St Margarets, Twickenham TW1 2LR.

If you missed last year’s sell out exhibition, Turner and The Thames, an interview with last year’s guest curator Andrew Loukes is available here.

All images courtesy Turner’s House, Twickenham. Photography by Kilian O’Sullivan and Lucinda MacPherson. Photography of Turner paintings ©Tate Turner’s House Exhibition.