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| Joseph Mallord William Turner A Storm (Shipwreck) 1823 watercolor British Museum |
On 24 May 1823 an art critic in the Literary Gazette reviewed ". . . two very splendid Drawings by J.M.W. Turner RA in which the artist has depicted, with his usual ability, the powerful and sublime effect of a Shipwreck, contrasted with the quiet serenity of a Calm. . . . The chaotic & destructive character of the former is, we think, hurt by the interference of vivid colour. How far a sudden burst of sunshine might light up a scene like this, and, as if in mockery of misery, tinge it with the gaudy hues of a fairy vision, we are not prepared to say . . . "
Kim Sloan comments on this review and on the painting itself in The Lloyd Bequest of Turner Watercolours (British Museum Press, 1998): "Certainly everywhere one looks in the composition figures are being drawn towards disaster: the small boat in the foreground is about to be swamped by the weight of those clinging to its stern, but it is in any case ultimately doomed as it heads for the huge rock before it. Sunlight may fall on the cliffs in the centre, but only to illuminate the waves that crash over them, and there is no sign of beach, ship or shore to offer hope in the bright chalk cliffs in the distance on the left. We should recall, however, that shipwrecks were much more a part of life at this time, a symbol of the inevitable triumph of the power of nature. Seldom was hope an element in the background of scenes of shipwrecks, as it had been in Géricault's Raft of the Medusa shown in London in 1820, where man rather than nature was the main subject. Perhaps the reviewer still had this painting in mind when writing of Turner's "mockery to misery," but in Turner's many paintings of shipwrecks nature was nearly always the main protagonist and hope was absent, except perhaps in redemption after death."
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Messieurs les Voyageurs returning from Italy Night scene in a snow drift upon Mount Tarrar 1829 watercolor, bodycolor British Museum |
"In 1828 Turner made his third visit to Italy. . . . Anxious to return to commitments in London, he left Italy in January and experienced a crossing of the Alps so disastrous that he swore he would never leave so late in winter again . . . an experience he recounted in February in a letter to Charles Eastlake: " . . . the snow began to fall at Foligno, tho' more of ice than snow, that the coach from its weight slid about in all directions, that walking was much preferable, but my innumerable tails would not do that service so I soon got wet through and through, till at Sarre-valli the diligence zizd into a ditch and required 6 oxen, sent three miles back for, to drag it out . . . consequently half starved and frozen we at last got to Bologna . . . But there our troubles began instead of diminishing . . . all bad till Firenzola being even the worst for the down diligence people had devoured everything eatable (Beds none) . . . crossed Mount Cenis on a sledge - bivouaced in the snow with fires lighted for 3 Hours on Mont Tarate while the diligence was righted and dug out, for a Bank of Snow saved it from upsetting - and in the same night we were again turned out to walk up to our knees in new fallen drift to get assistance to dig a channel thro' it for the coach, so that from Foligno to within 20 miles of Paris I never saw the road but snow!"
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Rouen - the Left Bank, with shipping beyond ca. 1827-28 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Venetian Festival ca. 1845 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner View of the Forum, Rome, with a rainbow 1819 watercolor, gouache Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Tintern Abbey ca. 1794 watercolor British Museum |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner St Erasmus in Bishop Islip's Chapel, Westminster Abbey 1796 watercolor British Museum |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Basilica of Constantine, Rome 1819 watercolor, gouache Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Colosseum, Rome 1820 watercolor British Museum |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner The North Gallery at night Figures contemplating Flaxman's statue St Michael overcoming Satan 1827 watercolor Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Dinner in a Great Room with figures in costume ca. 1830-35 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Interior of a Great House - the Drawing Room, East Cowes Castle ca. 1830 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Reclining nude on a bed ca. 1840 watercolor, gouache Tate Britain |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner Reclining nude with one arm reaching behind her head ca. 1834-36 watercolor Tate Britain |