09/07/2024
Opening soon!
An exciting new exhibition, featuring the work of one of Britain's most well-known artists, Joseph Mallord William Turner, is coming to Barnstaple Museum!
Turner in Barnstaple will showcase Barnstaple Bridge at Sunset c.1814 by J.M.W. Turner, on loan from the Tate. The exhibition - and an associated programme of events - will explore Barnstaple at the time of his visit during the beginning of the 19th century.
J.M.W. Turner is probably Britain’s most well-loved painter. Turner is known to have visited the town twice, creating pencil sketches and a small watercolour sketch of Barnstaple Bridge. These works are part of a larger body of work created during Turner’s sketching tour of the West Country in 1813, and the works forms part of the Turner Bequest, a huge collection of nearly 300 oil paintings, around 30,000 sketches and watercolours, and 300 sketchbooks, which are cared for by the Tate.
Although J.M.W. Turner was born in London, his father previously lived in South Molton, and Turner reputedly felt a close association with Devon. In Fifty Years’ Recollections, Literary and Personal, with Observations on Men and Things, 1858, Cyrus Redding recalls the following conversation with the acclaimed painter: ""You may add my name to the list," said Turner, “I am a Devonshire man.” I asked from what part of the county, and he replied, "From Barnstaple.""
Turner in Barnstaple is free and will be open from Saturday 20 July to Saturday 12 October 2024.
Turner-inspired activities and events
July
Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British, Source of the Tamar and the Torridge,
Saturday 20 July – Turner’s tours to the West Country
Observation and imagination with Professor Sam Smiles.
Sam Smiles is Emeritus Professor of Art History and the University of Plymouth, and Programme Director, of Art History and Visual Culture, University of Exeter. He specialises in the history of British art and has published books and papers of Turner and his work in the South West of England.Sam Smiles will be talking about Turner’s work in the West Country generally, with a focus on drawings and engravings of sites in and around Barnstaple.This talk with Sam Smiles will be taking place on Saturday 20th July 2024, the opening day of the Turner in Barnstaple exhibition, from 2pm – 3.30pm.
Book Turner talk
Image: Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British, Source of the Tamar and the Torridge, ca. 1813, Watercolor, gouache, graphite and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper mounted on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1977.14.4689.
