Travels with Turner: Watercolors from the Taft Collection
Taft Museum of Art January 18–April 14, 2019 | Sinton Gallery
Lake Nemi,
about 1835. Watercolor, pencil, and gouache on paper, 10 1/2 x 8 11/16
in. Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phelps Taft, 1931.387
Follow nineteenth-century British painter J. M. W. Turner on his
travels throughout the United Kingdom and Europe—through his watercolors
and an interactive digital map. On his journeys, Turner filled
sketchbook after sketchbook, gathering reference material he would later
turn into more detailed watercolors and oil paintings. A prolific
artist and intrepid traveler, Turner was especially drawn to natural
features such as mountains, alpine lakes, glaciers, river valleys, and
seashores, as well as the human presence within these dramatic settings.
This exhibition of the Taft Museum of Art’s ten watercolors by Turner
focuses on the places he painted, including dramatic landscapes from
Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Scotland, and Italy. Because
these delicate watercolors are kept in storage to protect them from the
damaging effects of light, this is a once-every-several-years
opportunity to see these treasures from the Taft collection.
