Cultural Currents: Legion's curator discusses “J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free”

A major new exhibition at The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco  this summer features “J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free.”

The show at the de Young will be the first major exhibition to survey the achievements of Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775–1851) during his final period of productivity, when many of his most celebrated works were created.

Included are paintings from 1835, when the artist turned 60, through 1850, the year he was last exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.

“Painting Set Free” brings together 65 key oil paintings and watercolors, shedding fresh light on the artist’s life and art by challenging myths, assumptions and interpretations that have grown around his later work. It reveals a painter distinguished by the broad scope of his knowledge and imagination, as well as by his radical and exploratory techniques and uses of materials.

The exhibition also will provide the rare opportunity to see firsthand some of the masterpieces featured in Mike Leigh’s critically acclaimed film “Mr. Turner” (Sony Pictures Classics, 2014).

 “Turner’s late paintings, which include many of his best-known images, are both engaging and enigmatic,” said Esther Bell, curator in charge of European paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “These astonishing works influenced generations of artists, from Claude Monet to Cy Twombly.”

In an exclusive interview with Bay Crossings, Ms. Bell shared other insights on Turner and the sea.

Bay Crossings: Obviously, Bay Crossings' readers relate to most art with a waterborne theme. What makes Turner's work so powerful in this regard?

Esther Bell: Turner was the master of painting atmosphere: wind, water, fire, light. He was interested in trying to capture the uncapturable through nuanced brushwork and an inventive use of media. And, he does so to masterful effect. The case in point is Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, where we are transported into a ferocious vortex of water, snow, wind, and terror.

BC: What other works in the De Young's permanent collection would resonate with our readers?

Bell: We hope that our visitors will come to the Legion of Honor to see our permanent collection of European paintings, including works by the artists that inspired Turner: such as those by Claude Lorrain or the Dutch masters. We also have a fantastic exhibition of works on paper by Turner and his contemporaries called “Luminous Worlds: British Works on Paper, 1760-1900” on view until November 29^th.

BC: How should our readers prepare before coming to view this exhibition? 

Bell: There are many excellent books on Turner’s life and career. For a quick read, but excellent overview, I suggest Olivier Meslay’s J.M.W. Turner: The Man Who Set Painting on Fire. For a longer, also excellent read, I also enjoyed Anthony Bailey’s Standing in the Sun: A Life of J.M.W. Turner.

BC: What were the main challenges you faced in putting this exhibition together? Any surprises?

Bell: The exhibition was a joy to work on, and a great privilege—and it didn’t present any glaring challenges. The “surprises” occurred mainly when we uncrated the paintings. . .they were entirely more magnificent and powerful than I had remembered (even from seeing them a matter of weeks earlier). Each work in the exhibition is truly a masterpiece.

BC: The de Young's audio guides are great of course, but do you recommend any particular musical score for this show?

Bell: In Turner’s later career he was compared to Hector Berlioz for his radicalism; I find both artist and composer to be equally compelling in their manner of invention—relative to their day.

Photo caption:

Joseph Mallord William Turner, "The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834," 1834–1835. Oil on canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art. The John Howard McFadden Collection