Tate Britain – The Turner Paintings

On Sunday 26th September I decided to visit Tate Britain. My MA tutor, on discovering my leanings towards Impressionistic painters, advised that I take a look at works by Joseph Mallord Willam Turner (JMW Turner).  Born in 1775 until 1851, Turner is considered as one of the most important Impressionistic painters this country has ever produced. I, personally, am not an art historian but I am interested to find an intersection between visual art and the written word. Turner is fascinating as he illustrated the words from Virgil, Homer to his favourite Byron onto the canvas. Visiting the Tate I was taken aback by the sheer volume of his work and below are a few paintings which for me were beautiful to look at. I can tell you that many of these paintings I describe held me rooted to the spot for sometime, held by some imaginary force as I stood and attempted to delve into each painting.

Buttermere Lake, with Part of Cromackwater, Cumberland, a Shower (exhibited 1798)

This is a breathtaking painting made during the early Turner years. It’s moody, powerful, dark portrayal of Cumberland depicts an arc of white light that scratches the darkened heavens as it strikes a mountainous region behind a small village. The light appears it is gaining intensity as gravity pulls the arc down with such ferocity that it illuminates the surrounding area – much like a comet – before it strikes. In the foreground two people are seen in a rowing boat moving towards us. When I came across this painting I was dumbstruck in its sheer beauty in the use of dark but subtle shades. It is one of those paintings that you after a few minutes you begin to notice other things – very much like being in the dark after turning the late off and waiting for your pupils to dilate and adjust to the dark. Incredible detail to the eye.

The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory (1806-8)

Turner trained as an architectural draughtsman and topographical copyist which when viewing this painting you begin to ask yourself are we witnessing a past event, or are we marvelling at the beautiful construct of man’s creation in the form of the ship’s sails and rigging? This may sound very odd but the way this picture hangs in the Tate (its approx 2m x 3m) the first thing that you notice is not what’s happening on deck (bearing in mind that the battle of Trafalgar marked the very pinnacle of British naval warfare administered by Horatio Nelson) but that Turner is almost showing off his architectural prowess. I am 6′ 3″ tall and what visually hits you is the intricacy of the sails and its rigging of the cluster of boats. You can tell that Turner spent a considerable amount of time drawing the rigging with such care and integrity that as a technical drawing it’s almost faultless. Examine the painting up close, you get the feeling the whole piece is about the technical nature of painting. To me this felt like an artist who was coming to grips with not the artistic side of painting but more structuring a painting in terms of its position to the audience. In screenwriting terms, it felt like a writer getting to grips with structure and composing a piece from that. To me, whilst the painting is glorious to look at there is nothing very emotive about it.

Interior of a Prison, Lecture – Diagram 65 (circa 1810)

Drawn in pencil and watercolours on paper Turner really captured the light and shadows in this piece. The fact that he was able to achieve the luminosity and shadows from pencil and watercolours is a testament to his skill as an artist as looking at the piece I actually thought it was oil based. Even though this is drawn on paper I am astounded at the level of detail in it. Therefore, art is not about size. It’s about what you render with absolute precision that makes it artistic. As a writer I always struggle whether I can depict a scene with imaginative detail but within the confines of a few action lines?

The Field of Waterloo (exhibited 1818)

The aftermath after the battle of Waterloo. What is quite shocking in this painting are the hundreds if not thousands of dead bodies that are strewn across the battle field. The eye is drawn to individuals who are either looking for their lost relatives, or are they merely picking the riches from the dead? The lighting is terrific as the eye is drawn to the naked flame blowing in the wind. As we look up we see a hazy moon beaming down. The more I look at it, I wonder whether the moon is acting as a conduit taking the lost souls onto their next journey?

Brighton from the Sea (circa 1829)

This is quite a departure from traditional Turner paintings as he begins to employ radiant yellow hues into his works. I love the yellow melting into the brackish waters of the Thames and the casting of shadows to the left and the right. Looking at the sky, Turner really captures the pigments of light across the sky.

The Thames above Waterloo Bridge (circa 1830-5)

I don’t particularly like this painting because it feels rushed. You can see sometime has been spent rendering the foreground but then as we move towards Waterloo bridge the smog is smudged showing a hint of the bridge’s arches and distilled sunlight shining through.

The Temple of Poseidon at Sunium (Cape Colonna) (circa 1834)

A glorious painting. Look at the remains of the columns as they edge themselves out to the edge angled against the faltering Sun. The shadows that are cast across the outcrop of land and a section illuminated in the front which reveals a couple of animals looking out to the see. If you then cast your eyes to the left, there is a breathtaking vista of the crashing seas rolling into the shore.

The Parting of Hero and Leander (exhibited 1837)

Leander would swim across the Hellespont (a narrow strait in Northern Turkey which connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara) to be with Hero who resided in the tower of Sestos. Hero would light her lamp to guide Leander who would swim across the Hellespont each night to be with her. Unfortunately, as Greek tragedies go, Leander drowned one night and Hero flung herself into the Sea.

Sun Setting over a Lake (circa 1840)

Whilst I don’t particularly like the The Thames above Waterloo Bridge, I do like this piece. Some of the art pundits say that Turner actually produced his best pieces in his latter years. Even though his construction was never a literal depiction of the subjects he painted he would use sunlight to great effect. His brushing would be irregular sometimes circular, smudging, up and down strokes all used to create impressionistic vistas. This painting is all about light and judging by the spot of sun which occupies a small portion of the painting its rays disperse and intermingle with the surroundings.

The Sun of Venice Going to Sea (exhibited 1843)

I remember reading that Turner had spent some years travelling and this is evident in the maturity of his works.  I love the ships sails in which the lettering is clearly evident when viewed up close (computer images do no justice). However its surroundings are smudged and hazed forcing the viewer to stay staring ahead. The waves of the water amplitude heavily to the right leaving a calm stretch of water bringing the mighty ship to the viewers’ eye.

St Benedetto, Looking towards Fusina (exhibited 1843)

What’s quite majestic about this painting is the depiction of the Sun as its light stretched across the river almost creating a barrier between the two gondolas. The clouds plume and plumped amplify the Sun. The cloud looks as if it is swelling due to the intensity of the Sun and allowing the colour to slowly dissipate from its central core out to the its fringes.

`Hurrah! for the Whaler Erebus! Another Fish!’ (exhibited 1846)

What I love about this painting is that the beam of sunlight energizing down from the heavens is indistinguishable from its source – the almighty Sun itself! I love how Turner creates a central hurricane of sunlight exploding outwards like a supernova and down to the waters edge bleeding into the sea as it stretches its fingers across to the viewer.

The Visit to the Tomb (exhibited 1850)

Only Turner can make the Sun turn into vortex of swirling light that extends from the heavens into a tightly focusses central core that strikes the ground and creates a magnificent haze that supernovas outwards. I could stare for hours looking at this painting and get truly lost in its brilliance.

Whilst these paintings are not the complete works of Turner, I felt that this selection which spanned over 52 years of his life was showing me a form of structure that I had not noticed. Turner had spent his early years practising his art form painting diverse subjects. Looking at these paintings you can see how it arcs from dark (early years) to sublime beauty of light. The subjects in his early years were also of historical and allegorical content which itself suffered from dark themes but as we move into his latter years, Turner threw down the shackles of storytelling and opted for nirvanic enlightenment. Some would ponder at his paintings trying to discern the subject in the context of framing against paintings of its time. But for Turner, you have to leave your worldly possessions behind including your frame of mind and the place which roots you to normalcy. You have to let yourself go and feed the light that is so dominant in all his paintings. Over the years, light has transformed from a lantern, to the moon shifting from the right of the painting to the left before settling for the domineering central position. But painting a Sun as a round hazy circle as most painters would opt for, Turner shunned. For he took the glorious Sun and exploded it onto the canvas as it streaked, circled and merged with its surroundings.

For me, Turner in these pieces was simply breathtaking. All I need to now do is take all this artistic emotion and feed it into my screenplay.