Looking at J.M.W. Turner

This week, I went to see an exhibition of 100 paintings (watercolor and a few oils) by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) the English romantic painter. I haven’t viewed much art in person lately and this was a rare opportunity to see such a large collection of Turner’s work in my area.

The show was at the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. It’s the largest maritime museum in the United States. I haven’t visited since I was a kid. It’s the sort of place you visit on a school field trip to walk aboard old ships and watch people in costume making crafts or playing sea shanties in 19th century buildings. Lots of fun for kids.

What’s new is that there is now a beautiful new building which housed the Turner show, the Thompson Exhibition Building. I’d have taken a photo but it was raining!

Turner’s abstraction of landscape is what fascinates me the most. I thought I’d share a few highlights from the show. These are just cell phone photos and it’s tricky to photograph art behind glass but I think you can get an idea of what interested me in this work.