Art Histroy: Turner at the National Gallery of Victoria

Hi Steemers

Its been a little while since my last post as I have been away interstate for Christmas, but these trips always give me the great opportunity to indulge my passion for art by visiting Australian Art Galleries. Recently I visited the National Gallery of Victoria, situated on the south bank of the Yarra Yarra river in Melbourne, Australia. The NGV has a truly amazing collection and in particular has a fantastic representation of European oil paintings. Today I would like to share three works currently permanent display by the English artist J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851).

Dunstanburgh Castle, north-east coast of Northumberland, sunrise after a squally night, 1798, oil on canvas.

This painting depicts Dunstanburgh Castle high on a windswept coastal cliff. The castle is shown from a low vantage point which places a degree of emphasis on scale and seems to make the castle "feel" huge. The side plaque discusses the idea of the Sublime, a popular conception within Enlightenment England which conveyed aesthetic notions of insurmountable greatness here represented in a naturalistic form in the dramatic nature of the waves crashing against the rocks. (For more information on the Sublime see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy))

Walton bridges, c. 1806, oil on canvas.

This marvelous painting shows the double bridge across the river Themes at Walton in Surrey. The work displays a charming rural or pastoral quality and one can image the daily lives of the people in the picture, presumably traders and farmers taking stock down river to London town. The work is also characteristic of Turner in the drama that is playing out in the skies, with great shafts of light streaking through the clouds.

Falls of Schaffhausen (Val d'Aosta), c. 1845, oil on canvas

This work is an excellent example of Turner's later style. The work was a study at the Falls of Schaffhausen in Switzerland a favorite spot for Turner on his many sketching trips into the European Alps. The caption importantly points out that "Turner often sent incomplete canvases to the Royal Academy or British Institution exhibitions, then finished them in a last-minute frenzy on the so-called Varnishing Day, adding vital details that made clear an intended subject." ( see: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/j-m-w-turner-falls-of-schaffhausen-val-daosta-c-1845/) Therefore perhaps one shouldn't interpret the picture as the final perceived product but rather as an experimental study in atmospheric effects, that perhaps the artist had intended to finish at a later date.

I highly recommend checking out the NGV's digital collection of works by Turner (see: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/6891/)

Thanks for reading everyone

Until next time, keep on steeming

Byron