J.M.W. TURNER (1775-1851)
Except otherwise stated, all results below include the premium.
See also : Watercolor by Turner George I-III UK II Music in old painting Cities Venice Illustration art
Chronology : 1800-1809 1810-1819 1830-1839 1840-1849
See also : Watercolor by Turner George I-III UK II Music in old painting Cities Venice Illustration art
Chronology : 1800-1809 1810-1819 1830-1839 1840-1849
1808 Pope's Villa at Twickenham
2008 SOLD for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's
The young Turner is a great admirer of poets, whom he wishes to equal with his graphic art. He specializes in landscapes. Following the example of Le Lorrain, he assembles from 1807 a set of studies which will serve as models for his later work and for the prints.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1816 The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius Restored
2009 SOLD for $ 13M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas by Turner, 117 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 92.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Rome
1
1835 from Mount Aventine
2014 SOLD for £ 30.3M by Sotheby's
Turner visited Rome twice, in 1819 and 1828. He was dazzled by that city which was trying to organize its modernity without denying its glorious past. During his first trip, he was concerned about illustration and drew hundreds of sketches of views and monuments. The goal of the second visit was to soak in the atmosphere for producing oils on canvas.
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This painting was sold for £ 30.3M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2014, lot 44. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold by Sotheby's in 2010.
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This painting was sold for £ 30.3M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2014, lot 44. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold by Sotheby's in 2010.
2
1839 from Capitoline Hill
2010 SOLD for £ 29.7M by Sotheby's
Long after his two trips to Rome in 1819 and 1828, the Eternal City has continued to fascinate him. In 1839 he gathers these travel memories to compose a large oil on canvas, 90 x 122 cm.
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a masterpiece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had previously appeared only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
It was sold by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010 for £ 29.7M from a lower estimate of £ 12M.
See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia :
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a masterpiece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had previously appeared only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
It was sold by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010 for £ 29.7M from a lower estimate of £ 12M.
See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia :
1835 Ehrenbreitstein
2017 SOLD for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's
Turner is an illustrator. His watercolors are used to create collections of images and conversely the engravings are an effective way to disclose his major artworks.
He is also a keen traveler. When touring all over Europe he deliberately walked in the fictional footsteps of Childe Harold, the disillusioned young man of Byron's poem who visited the sites wrought by wars to satisfy his need for freedom.
In 1835 Turner finishes his sublime view showing Rome from the Aventine, oil on canvas 93 x 126 cm. Extending to the oil the traditional technique of watercolor, the superposition of very thin layers of paint brings a transparency that simulates the sunny mist without weakening the details of the drawing. This painting was sold by Sotheby's in 2014.
The artist has reached an agreement for an image of Germany with the engraver John Pye after he had appreciated the quality of the effects of light in his prints. When he receives the promised work, Pye is frightened but it is too late to give up : Turner did not execute a watercolor but an oil on canvas of large size, 93 x 123 cm, with the same subtle hues as in the Roman view. Meeting the requirements of the patron is virtually impossible.
This painting is a view of Ehrenbreitstein, subtitled The Bright Stone of Honour and the Tomb of Marceau from Byron's Childe Harold. The ruined fortress of Ehrenbreitstein which still dominates Koblenz is a symbol of the vanity of the old wars. Marceau is that young French general killed at the age of 27 near Koblenz who had deserved such a reputation for chivalrous bravery that the two hostile armies participated together in his funeral.
Contrary to the Roman view, the view of Rhineland does not seek an overall topographical truth. It is a set of scenes where peasant girls cohabit peacefully with soldiers of both armies.
The painting was finished in 1835. Nine years later Turner became impatient with Pye who succeeded in convincing him that his work was not abandoned. The engraving was printed in 1845 under the pressure of a collector who wanted to buy the original painting to Turner.
The Ehrenbreitstein view was sold for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's on July 5, 2017, lot 21. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
He is also a keen traveler. When touring all over Europe he deliberately walked in the fictional footsteps of Childe Harold, the disillusioned young man of Byron's poem who visited the sites wrought by wars to satisfy his need for freedom.
In 1835 Turner finishes his sublime view showing Rome from the Aventine, oil on canvas 93 x 126 cm. Extending to the oil the traditional technique of watercolor, the superposition of very thin layers of paint brings a transparency that simulates the sunny mist without weakening the details of the drawing. This painting was sold by Sotheby's in 2014.
The artist has reached an agreement for an image of Germany with the engraver John Pye after he had appreciated the quality of the effects of light in his prints. When he receives the promised work, Pye is frightened but it is too late to give up : Turner did not execute a watercolor but an oil on canvas of large size, 93 x 123 cm, with the same subtle hues as in the Roman view. Meeting the requirements of the patron is virtually impossible.
This painting is a view of Ehrenbreitstein, subtitled The Bright Stone of Honour and the Tomb of Marceau from Byron's Childe Harold. The ruined fortress of Ehrenbreitstein which still dominates Koblenz is a symbol of the vanity of the old wars. Marceau is that young French general killed at the age of 27 near Koblenz who had deserved such a reputation for chivalrous bravery that the two hostile armies participated together in his funeral.
Contrary to the Roman view, the view of Rhineland does not seek an overall topographical truth. It is a set of scenes where peasant girls cohabit peacefully with soldiers of both armies.
The painting was finished in 1835. Nine years later Turner became impatient with Pye who succeeded in convincing him that his work was not abandoned. The engraving was printed in 1845 under the pressure of a collector who wanted to buy the original painting to Turner.
The Ehrenbreitstein view was sold for £ 18.5M by Sotheby's on July 5, 2017, lot 21. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This Turner masterpiece is going from private hands to open market: could it set a record for British art? @Sothebys https://t.co/BktorQc0NL pic.twitter.com/Wc4aRPGq3n
— AntiquesTradeGazette (@ATG_Editorial) April 4, 2017
1841 Venice
1
Giudecca
2006 SOLD for $ 36M by Christie's
Venice had a hard time taming Turner. His first tour of Italy, in 1819, included only a short visit to Venice, which he completely avoided in 1828. Inspired by poets, he conceived his views of Italy and Greece by unleashing his own imagination from sketches brought back by his friends.
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
2
Bellini's Three Pictures
2022 SOLD for $ 33.6M by Christie's
A painter of wonderful landscape views, Turner nevertheless applied fancy to his finished oil on canvas, relying throughout his career on his own pencil sketches.
A view of Venice painted in 1841 in Turner's pre-impressionist brush work of the period is a tribute to his earliest great predecessor in the city, Giovanni Bellini. Titled Depositing of John Bellini's Three Pictures in La Chiesa Redentore, it depicts a flowing procession forwarding three pictures in the leading gondola, in the follow of Canaletto's successful theme of festivities.
Although it was exhibited in the same year at the Royal Academy beside two views inspired by its 1840 trip, it is a unique example in the larger 74 x 116 cm format and the only one with a narration.
The three pictures from the title are visible but so tiny that they cannot be identified. Probably Turner himself did not try it. It is pure fancy : no date has been forwarded for that special solemnity. It is even missing the usual bird's eye view of Canaletto's paintings.
This oil on canvas was sold for $ 33.6M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 46.
Another entry in the same 1841 exhibition was the view of La Giudecca, oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm sold for $ 36M by Christie's on April 6, 2006, lot 97.
A view of Venice painted in 1841 in Turner's pre-impressionist brush work of the period is a tribute to his earliest great predecessor in the city, Giovanni Bellini. Titled Depositing of John Bellini's Three Pictures in La Chiesa Redentore, it depicts a flowing procession forwarding three pictures in the leading gondola, in the follow of Canaletto's successful theme of festivities.
Although it was exhibited in the same year at the Royal Academy beside two views inspired by its 1840 trip, it is a unique example in the larger 74 x 116 cm format and the only one with a narration.
The three pictures from the title are visible but so tiny that they cannot be identified. Probably Turner himself did not try it. It is pure fancy : no date has been forwarded for that special solemnity. It is even missing the usual bird's eye view of Canaletto's paintings.
This oil on canvas was sold for $ 33.6M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 46.
Another entry in the same 1841 exhibition was the view of La Giudecca, oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm sold for $ 36M by Christie's on April 6, 2006, lot 97.
1842 The Blue Rigi
2006 SOLD for £ 5.8M by Christie's
Turner is a great innovator of color. He succeeds in applying to oil painting the technique of overlapping wet colors that he had previously developed for watercolor. On his return from his 1840 trip to Venice, he achieves in both techniques the hues halfway between mist and dream for which he is rightly regarded as a precursor of impressionism.
Back again in his workshop after his 1841 trip to Switzerland, he considers that the quality of his watercolors is worthy of his large format "finished" works, the only ones which he offers for sale. In 1842 he prepares fifteen 24 x 30 cm views of Lucerne and its surroundings for demonstrating the light effect to his clients, before copying each sketch in a larger 30 x 45 cm as a single unit. It is likely that this uniqueness enabled him to justify the very high price of these "finished" watercolors, 80 guineas each.
Three of these views show the Rigi beyond the Lake of Lucerne at different hours of the day. The mountain is dark before dawn, blue at sunrise and red at twilight. These pictures precede Monet's variations of light on the Poplars and on the Cathedral of Rouen by half a century, although Turner did not conceive them as a series.
The Blue Rigi is one of four "finished" watercolors that are available before inviting the customers. It is bought by the collector Bicknell, who had acquired a pre-impressionist oil on canvas of the Giudecca in the previous year.
The Blue Rigi was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on June 5, 2006, lot 53. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
To serve as a pendant, Bicknell had ordered one of the eleven works remaining to be produced, a view of the Lake of Lucerne from Brunnen which will be sold for £ 2.05M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018. The choice of this collector was excellent : his oil on canvas from Venice referred above was sold for $ 36M by Christie's in 2006.
Back again in his workshop after his 1841 trip to Switzerland, he considers that the quality of his watercolors is worthy of his large format "finished" works, the only ones which he offers for sale. In 1842 he prepares fifteen 24 x 30 cm views of Lucerne and its surroundings for demonstrating the light effect to his clients, before copying each sketch in a larger 30 x 45 cm as a single unit. It is likely that this uniqueness enabled him to justify the very high price of these "finished" watercolors, 80 guineas each.
Three of these views show the Rigi beyond the Lake of Lucerne at different hours of the day. The mountain is dark before dawn, blue at sunrise and red at twilight. These pictures precede Monet's variations of light on the Poplars and on the Cathedral of Rouen by half a century, although Turner did not conceive them as a series.
The Blue Rigi is one of four "finished" watercolors that are available before inviting the customers. It is bought by the collector Bicknell, who had acquired a pre-impressionist oil on canvas of the Giudecca in the previous year.
The Blue Rigi was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on June 5, 2006, lot 53. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
To serve as a pendant, Bicknell had ordered one of the eleven works remaining to be produced, a view of the Lake of Lucerne from Brunnen which will be sold for £ 2.05M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018. The choice of this collector was excellent : his oil on canvas from Venice referred above was sold for $ 36M by Christie's in 2006.
1845 Seaside at Folkestone
1984 SOLD for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's
A pre-impressionist oil on canvas painted in 1845 showing the seaside at Folkestone was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on July 5, 1984, the highest price recorded at auction at that time for any work of art.
Turner had a rest in May 1845 in Margate in the guesthouse of his companion woman Sophia Booth. He then toured the French side of the Channel to view the cliffs between Ambleteuse and Boulogne.
From that year a sketchbook titled Channel includes sky studies, catching in watercolor some moments, anticipating both the capture of weather moments by Monet and the abstract art.
Folkestone is a sea resort on the Channel, located 50 km south of Margate and 15 km west of Dover. An oil on canvas painted in 1845 showing the seaside at Folkestone was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on July 5, 1984.
From 1846 Turner went to live with Mrs Booth in Chelsea where he was known as Mr Booth ir Admiral Booth.
Turner had a rest in May 1845 in Margate in the guesthouse of his companion woman Sophia Booth. He then toured the French side of the Channel to view the cliffs between Ambleteuse and Boulogne.
From that year a sketchbook titled Channel includes sky studies, catching in watercolor some moments, anticipating both the capture of weather moments by Monet and the abstract art.
Folkestone is a sea resort on the Channel, located 50 km south of Margate and 15 km west of Dover. An oil on canvas painted in 1845 showing the seaside at Folkestone was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on July 5, 1984.
From 1846 Turner went to live with Mrs Booth in Chelsea where he was known as Mr Booth ir Admiral Booth.
mid 1840s The Bridge
2019 SOLD for £ 8.2M by Sotheby's
Light is the main theme of Turner's art throughout his career. He successively mastered watercolor and oil and became an illustrator for spreading his vision to a wider audience. Light does not exist without the landscape and the sea. The early inspirers of Turner are poets who sang the beauty of nature such as James Thomson or Lord Byron.
He admires the Liber Veritatis of Le Lorrain. A series of 71 images engraved between 1807 and 1819 under the title Liber Studiorum brings together Turner's landscape studies that can indeed be used by clients to commission "finished works".
Time passes. Turner is famous despite his eccentric temperament. His artistic creativity remains intact. He is aware that his art is unprecedented and decides to bequeath hundreds of pieces to the British nation. Eager for a posthumous recognition, he nevertheless flees his lifetime celebrity, spending his last years in Chelsea under the name of Mr Booth which was the surname of his companion Sophia.
In his later works the landscapes are literally wrapped in light, with a gradual vanishing of figurative details. He retrieves his dear old themes of the Liber Studiorum, which he reissues in 1845 in fifteen additional copies printed from the original plates under the influence of Ruskin.
The corpus of these late paintings made by Turner in direct relationship with the Liber includes nine large size artworks. Only one is still in private hands. This oil on canvas 88 x 118 cm was sold for £ 8.2M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 11.
This painting is inspired by an image of the Liber titled The Bridge in the Middle Distance. A confusion with the views of Italy, perhaps due to the light of the Venice views painted after his 1840 trip, has long masked the topographical theme of this image, the double Walton Bridge on the Thames, one of his favorite sites. The landscapes of J.M.W. Turner are universal.
He admires the Liber Veritatis of Le Lorrain. A series of 71 images engraved between 1807 and 1819 under the title Liber Studiorum brings together Turner's landscape studies that can indeed be used by clients to commission "finished works".
Time passes. Turner is famous despite his eccentric temperament. His artistic creativity remains intact. He is aware that his art is unprecedented and decides to bequeath hundreds of pieces to the British nation. Eager for a posthumous recognition, he nevertheless flees his lifetime celebrity, spending his last years in Chelsea under the name of Mr Booth which was the surname of his companion Sophia.
In his later works the landscapes are literally wrapped in light, with a gradual vanishing of figurative details. He retrieves his dear old themes of the Liber Studiorum, which he reissues in 1845 in fifteen additional copies printed from the original plates under the influence of Ruskin.
The corpus of these late paintings made by Turner in direct relationship with the Liber includes nine large size artworks. Only one is still in private hands. This oil on canvas 88 x 118 cm was sold for £ 8.2M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 11.
This painting is inspired by an image of the Liber titled The Bridge in the Middle Distance. A confusion with the views of Italy, perhaps due to the light of the Venice views painted after his 1840 trip, has long masked the topographical theme of this image, the double Walton Bridge on the Thames, one of his favorite sites. The landscapes of J.M.W. Turner are universal.
#AuctionUpdate Water under the Bridge: Coming to the market for the first time in over 35 years, #Turner’s idealised, Italianate landscape, inspired by Walton Bridge in Surrey, totals £8,171,000. #SothebysOldMasters pic.twitter.com/BjEPIdwcvH
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2019
