Today I went to see the Turner and the Sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
I am a great fan of Turner’s work and when it comes to sea pictures he seems to be able to capture the movement in the sea, even in a painting, making it look very realistic
This realism was very evident in the exhibition as it also contained paintings by other marine artists such as Van de Wolde to which they could be compared. It was however evident that as time went on that other artists began to copy Turner’s style and introduce a more realistic portrayal of the sea. The other thing I found fascinating was his focus on fishermen. I had only really seen his big ship paintings, such as Fighting Temeraire, before and this focus on smaller working boats and the people who manned them was a whole new aspect of the artist.
Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish by J.M.W. Turner
From https://www.flickr.com/photos/lops/
https://flic.kr/p/a8FSCX
From https://www.flickr.com/photos/freeparking/
In addition to his paintings in oil and watercolour there were also a room of studies and some of his sketch books which he carried around with him.
See http://www.artfund.org/what-to-see/exhibitions/2013/11/22/turner-and-the-sea for more Turner seascapes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlw6-zhAvkQ
National Maritime Museum promo video
Pete's Favourite Things 