Turner’s Modern World Exhibition: Tate Britain

JMW Turner is one of Britain’s most famous artists, he was child prodigy entering the Royal Academy of Art at the tender age of 14; eccentric and controversial he was known for travelling all over Europe and returning with countless sketch books of drawings and paintings of his travels. His imagination was particularly captured by war, shipwrecks and fire; notably the burning of parliament in 1843, which he witnessed first-hand. The exhibition at the Tate Britain titled ‘Turner’s Modern World: Painting times of change’ which opened in October, only for it to close as another lockdown in England was announced. Joy. In the exhibition there is everything from stunning seascapes to the harsh realities of the slave trade. I trundled along on a cold December morning with a friend who is an artist. Neither of us are experts on William Turner, but we both like his style. It was his use of colour that we were stunned by, we didn’t focus too much on his figures, but the swirling colours that he used to dramatic effect. For example, one of our favourites titled ‘Peace-Burial at Sea’ 1842 depicted the death of an artist friend called David Willkie. The governor of Gibraltar refused to have his body taken to shore, as of which he was buried at sea. Turner, furious at the denial of a public burial painted a stark ship, against a swirling grey sky, decorated with black sails. His only wish was that he could’ve painted the sails blacker still. It is also worth noting that Turner was deeply set against the slave trade, as such one of the most striking pieces was a stunning black and white picture called ‘The Deluge’ 1805 where a black man is depicted saving a drowning white woman in the middle of a tempest. But even greater still was the reproduction of a painting called ‘The Slave Ship’ 1840. The original is on display at the Boston Museum of Art (an excellent reason to go across the pond). At first glance the eyes only see the stunning gold and red sky of sunset over a turbulent sea, in the background is a ship. However, on closer inspection in the foreground you see the bodies of countless captured souls who were flung overboard because they were either sick, dying or the company wished to capitalise on their insurance agreement. Next to it is a diagram of a slave ship which details how many people could’ve fit lying next to one another inside these vessels; they would’ve been packed in like sardines.

Turner had tried many a time to gain royal patronage, he even painted the seat of HRH Prince Albert ‘Schloss Rosenau, Seat of H.R.H Prince Albert of Coburg’ 1841 in Germany, however it didn’t go down too well with Queen Victoria and the Prince, who rejected the paining as a hot mess (I’m paraphrasing). This wasn’t the first time he’d tried for royal patronage, nor would it be the last, and each time round he would never be successful. Instead, he would have to be content with his endless travels around England, Wales and the rest of Europe. 

His particularly dramatic settings were of the Napoleonic wars. His painting ‘Fields of Waterloo’ depicts women weeping over the bodies of fallen French and British soldiers as a battle rages on the background. Although the British were victorious in that battle, Turner reminds us of the true horror of what happens in war and the cost that it brings to both sides. Despite the fact that Napoleon fails in his global campaign (who on earth decides to invade Russia in WINTER) the mourning at a waste of human life is eminent in Turner’s art. In an earlier and much smaller painting also called ‘Fields of `Waterloo’ the soldiers who lie dead in a field are a mess of red and blue, their faces blurred and unrecognisable. The only way to discern who is who is by the ‘N’ on the uniforms of the French and the GRIII on the British.

Both my friend and I agreed, not everything there we liked, but we had to admit, his watercolours were immense. Particularly, the watercolour ‘Lake of Lucerne’ we see the mountain ranges beautifully reflected in the water below and the subtle outline of a town hidden by mist on the other side of the lake. My friend and I are both immensely careful when we try to paint with watercolour and we both find it very easy to make mistakes. But then again, neither of us are art prodigies nor do we have the time and the patience that Turner evidently had to achieve such exquisite detailing. 

Out of all of the paintings we saw, I had to admit some of his oil on canvas were probably my favourites, because of the colour. The highlight for me was the ‘Field of Waterloo’ 1818 with the weeping women and ‘The Fall of Anarchy’ 1825 which is unfinished but both paintings are dark, brooding but utterly fantastic. If you like art by William Turner, then go! However, if you’re not that interested then that’s fine too, but for those who like art and have nothing better to do in the middle of a global pandemic, then its great day out. I enjoyed it and my friend enjoyed it (thank heavens) and at the end of the day, that’s all that mattered. 

Turner’s Modern World is open until the 7th March 2021