William Turner: A Painter Of Light

Just last month I wrote about The Frick Collection, and spoke about the wonderful range of great art and artists that are represented in this small, but important museum.

Taking place at the Frick, from now through until mid-May 2017, is a special exhibition titled “Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages Through Time,” at which three monumental paintings by Turner will be on show, along with thirty or so other works encompassing oil, watercolours, and prints. The three major paintings at the centre of the exhibition are Harbor of Dieppe: Changement de Domicile, Cologne; The Arrival of a Packet-Boat: Evening, and The Harbor of Brest: The Quayside and Château, which is on loan from Tate Britain. The three port scenes are being shown together for the first time.

From Wikipedia we learn that Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) was an English Romanticist landscape painter who was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an importance that rivalled the painting of historic themes which was a very common practice when he was working as an artist. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting, and is commonly referred to as "the painter of light”.

Many of Turner’s greatest paintings are characterised by his unique pallet, which used newly invented pigments such as chrome yellow, and chrome orange. These gave his most famous works a golden hue that captured the light from the sun at its most evocative point, either early in the morning or later in the evening.

Although Henry Clay Frick bought Harbor of Dieppe and Arrival of a Packet-Boat, more than a century ago, the first American to buy a Turner painting was the New Yorker, James Lenox, a private collector. In 1845, Lenox bought—sight-unseen—the 1832 atmospheric seascape Staffa, Fingal's Cave. On receiving the painting Lenox was baffled, and "greatly disappointed" by what he called the painting's "indistinctness". When his views were relayed back to William Turner, Turner is said to have replied, "You should tell Mr Lenox that indistinctness is my forte.”

In April 2006, Christie's New York auctioned Giudecca, La Donna Della Salute and San Giorgio, a view of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841, for US$35.8 million, setting a new record for a Turner work.

If you can’t make to the exhibition itself, here is a short video produced by the Frick which takes a closer look at the three paintings, and some of the other works that form that exhibition.

“Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages Through Time”

At The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St.

On now through May 14, 2017

Online: www.frick.org 

More about Turner at Wikipedia… 

NYC: The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection may not be the biggest collection of art in New York City, but the unique nature of the collection makes it well worth visiting, especially for frequent visitors to the city who have 'done' the major museums and galleries and who are looking for something different to do. 

Smaller collections like those at the Frick are also worth visiting if you have a limited amount of time to spend in New York. You don't need to set aside the best part of day (or two) to appreciate the full collection as you would if visiting the Metropolitan Museum, or the Museum of Modern Art.

The collection was assembled by the Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) and is housed in his former residence on Fifth Avenue, one of New York City’s few remaining Gilded Age mansions. The museum opened in 1935 and has continued to acquire works of art since Mr. Frick’s death. Among the many artists represented in the collection are Rembrandt, Giovanni Bellini, El Greco, Goya, Vermeer, William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and numerous others.

Space is set aside for temporary exhibitions (the exhibition, Watteau’s Soldiers was taking place when I visited in late August, 2016), while another room screens short films examining the history of the collection.

Like most modern institutions, the Frick now has an excellent app for both Android and Apple smartphones and tablet devices. The app allows you to explore the galleries, search for specific works of art or artists, and provides information about current exhibitions and tours.

In fact, as I write this, the app offers a Director’s Choice tour with 38 stops; a Turner tour (again with 38 stops), and several others. You can not only examine each work of art, but brief audio explanations accompany each image as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Frick, and the chance to walk through one of New York City's famed Gilded Age mansions is an added bonus that should not be passed up either.