Landmark JMW Turner exhibition coming to Tate Britain
Turner's Modern World opens 28 October 2020
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Tate Britain have announced a new landmark exhibition on JMW Turner to open this autumn. Turner’s Modern World will open on 28 October 2020 and will run until 7 March 2021, and will explore how Turner broke with convention to paint the times in which he lived.
It will bring together 160 key works from around the world, including major loans as well as paintings and rarely seen drawings from the rich holdings of Tate’s Turner Bequest. Highlights of the exhibition will be two of Turner’s most famous paintings - Rain, Steam And Speed and The Fighting Temeraire - both on rare loan from London’s National Gallery.
JMW Turner. The Fighting Temeraire. The National Gallery, London. © The National Gallery, London
The exhibition will show what it meant to be a modern artist during Turner’s lifetime, which were extremely turbulent times. Britain was at war for much of his life, while revolutions and independence struggles took place around the world. He witnessed the explosion of finance capitalism as well as the transition from sail to steam and from manpower to mechanisation. Political reform as well as scientific and cultural advances transformed society and shaped the modern world. Visitors will be able to discover how he found new ways to capture these momentous events of his day.
The exhibition will also reflect on Turner’s interest in social reform, especially his changing attitudes towards politics, labour and slavery, and will conclude with a focus on Turner’s pioneering treatment of steam technology.
A number of the works on show are from Tate’s own collection. Tate Britain is home to the largest collection of works by the artist in the world.
Turner’s Modern World, supported by the Manton Foundation, is organised by Tate Britain in collaboration with Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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