I discovered Turner
Things that inspired me this week:
I got a copy of the book “Conversations with Tuner, The Watercolors” edited by Nicholas R. Bell from the library. I did not go to school for fine art or art history. If you are an art major, you can start rolling your eyes at me. But monumental discoveries, like this, are felt deeply.
I had been listening to a podcast or reading another art book that mentioned JMW Turner and I remember I googled “Blue Rigi”, which is a very striking painting. I needed to know more. So, I decided to get this book out of the library. Actually, I got the book 2 months after I asked for it, and totally forgot why I had requested it. But then, after turning through a few pages, I saw the Blue Rigi again and I remember, “Right, that’s why”. Because that painting strikes a very particular feeling.
The watercolour paintings and sketches they featured in this book blew my mind.
And then - I came across the painting: A Mountainous Coast with a Stranded Vessel or Whale, Possibly at Penmaenmawr or in North-East England (c 1825-1838)
First of all, I love that he doesn’t know if it’s a boat or a whale, and I love that it doesn’t matter. That’s part of the magic – it doesn’t matter at all.
And I felt this big discovery even more, because his watercolour paintings are so absolutely abstracted, and he was late 18th early 19th century. When you think about “broken colour” or the obsession with “real light” with go-to artists like Renoir, Van Gogh or Impressionism generally– when painting started getting funky and less formal – Turner is decades before that. And Turner’s watercolours feel so much more daring than that. So I’m struck by the fact that I feel it so deeply, but also that it’s anachronistic.
It’s at the Tate in London and when I googled it, it’s not on show. My newest big add to the life goal list is to call the Tate (that’s a thing right?) and see if they’ll let me see this in real life whenever I can go back to London.
(I’d love to show you a picture but I don’t want Tate to hand me a lawsuit so you should google it OR get the book from your local library if you can. Truthfully, the photo in the book is so much brighter and more beautiful than what they’ve allowed online, which I think is horribly selfish, really.)
