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Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
1. The Shipwreck, 1805
As I first walked into the exhibit, this was the first painting that caught my eye. It made the room have a little sense of gloominess. By using these dark colors, he conveys mother nature’s destruction. By looking at the waves, I can almost hear them crashing into each other. As these boats tumble into the waters, I also hear the wood breaking off the boats. People are screaming for their lives.
2. The Battle of Trafalgar, 1806 and 1823-24
This painting shows a battle between men. Even though this painting is bright in color, you can see the tragedy in the faces of the soldiers. These brave acts of the patriots are shown through their bloods and their lives.
3. The Field of Waterloo, 1818
My first thought I had looking at this painting was of hope after death. Even though these soldiers went through bloody battles, there is a little light out of the clouds. These people would always have a place in heaven and it looks like God is looking out for these people.
4. Mortlake Terrace, 1827
The warm colors of this painting go well in showing a sunset out to a bay. I finally feel a peace in one of Turner’s paintings after the paintings of wars and wreckage. I can imagine people of the estate enjoying a peaceful walk around the waters and below the trees, just enjoying their lives.
5. Disaster at Sea, 1833-35
Even though this was an unfinished work by Turner, you can still feel what expressions he was trying to give off. Though not clear, you can see the women and children in the midst of the waves. I feel as if they are screaming out to whoever is around them that can help. I imagine the panicking and their hurts.
6. The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 1835
The first thing that captures my eyes in this painting is the fire. It looks as if he used many shades of yellow, orange, and red to show the fire. In this painting, I can imagine the people around the houses that are in flames being in total shock and sadness. The smokiness of the fire looks as if it is putting this whole town into a state of darkness.
7. Snow Storm, 1842
This painting is somewhat abstract in the sense that he did not show detail in this painting. However, you can see a ship-like figure in the midst of the waves and a strong snowstorm. I imagine the ship almost toppling over but continuously just rocking back and forth. I can almost feel a chilly wind surrounding me.
8. Norham Castle at Sunrise, 1845
This abstract view of the castle looks as if it is shining throughout the land. The bulls of the land seem to be enjoying the peace in the shallow water. I can imagine being in the castle at early morning looking out on the beautiful land that is in front of me.
9. Sunrise with Sea Monsters, 1840-1845
This painting is as if Turner has used a few shades of colors in order to show little seam monsters in sunshine. The “sea monster” that look like crabs, is portrayed in a way that it might come out of the painting. This image is also in a peaceful setting, where these sea creatures can live without any other creatures bothering them.
The Shipwreck: I see an emphasis on waves to create chaos, along with blurred faces of people in distress.
The Battle of Trafalgar: I see a prominent use of cream and orange/red. I see clouds of white in the sky while the sea has smudges of brown and green.
The Field of Waterloo: I see a burst of white in the sky and light surrounding the middle. The light from the candle is the only life in a painting of darkness.
Mortlake Terrace: There is a lot of light being reflected on the lake. A dog is at the center.
Disaster at Sea: I see a blur of swirls of pink/red and white. From afar the dead bodies look like flowers blooming. The sky is a swirl of blue and grey.
The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons: I see bright lights from the flames on the left with pink/blue-grey smog on the right that surrounds the Houses of Parliament.
Snow Storm: The avalanche does not look like snow. It most resembles a huge wave. The people are so small compared to the “avalanche”.
Norham Castle at Sunrise: This painting exudes calmness. Everything is blurred. I see blue mountains and a brown blur of land with one lone animal near its center.
Sunrise with Sea Monsters: I see a blur of yellow and whiteness. The center represents a monster with piercing yellow eyes.
In general, I prefer paintings where the painter pays great attention to the details of his artwork. The first paintings of Turner’s I thought were breathtaking and without a doubt great work, but his later paintings disappointed me. I suppose I cannot appreciate such abstract work where the painting uses a blur of colors and brush strokes to portray a feeling.
I will openly agree that I am not an art aficionado, and quite possibly I should be the last person in the world writing about this topic. But I know what I saw while exploring Turner’s exhibit was just beautiful. The work was breathtaking. It’s very hard to find a painter who can capture chaos, unstability and danger as well as Turner. As a class, we were told to focus on 9 specific works of art, but honestly it’s difficult to enter the exhibition and not find yourself staring at each individual painting and watercolor with intensity. One can find incredible detail in even the biggest of Turner’s works.
These paintings were the standouts, in my opinion.
The Shipwreck-A fine piece of art and it just screams chaos. I love chaotic works of art. They total diminish society’s imposition of boundaries. The lack of horizon line makes it hard for the viewer to find a “stable place”. The waves are skillfully painted and one can practically see the fear on the peoples’ faces inside the painting.
The Battle of Trafalgar-While the large painting of the Battle of Trafalgar was great, I found myself focusing more on the smaller one to its right. I liked the illusion of many masts up in the sky emerging from a cloud of dust and ocean spray. Like the previous picture, it is very chaotic. I also enjoy the red streaks in the water signifying blood.
The Field of Waterloo-Everyone I talked to enjoyed the huge white streak in the middle of a dark painting. The contrast was just incredible. It is difficulty not to enjoy Turner’s paintings due to his attempts to play with color contrast.
Death on a Pale Horse-This painting was not listed on our list however I found it amazing. The background information stated that Turner did not finish this painting but it’s hard to improve on it. Lot’s of contrast between white and red. Death’s head bent backwards and the skeletal hand grabbing forward give it a creepy feel.
The Burning of the house of lords and commons-Possibly the best painting in the whole exhibit. Once again the contrast hits the viewer. The blue of the surroundings is perfectly matched with the orange and red inferno to the left of the painting. I love the way the fire was painted.
Mortlake Terrace-This is an almost exact opposite to a lot of previous paintings discussed in this post. It’s not chaotic at all but rather very peaceful. The painting is filled with white light and the thing that jumps out at the viewer is the black dog in the dead center of it. Great piece.
The Shipwreck (1805)
I see swirls of white and sea… a big white sail that possibly represents hope because it seems to capture the light coming from the right. For me, the painting conveys disaster, despair, nearly defeated sailors fighting for life, hopelessness, and their hard work and efforts.
The Battle of Trafalgar (1806)
I see massive amounts of white and smoke painted, which is obscuring the view. The deck is crowded and falls to darkness everywhere but in the middle, where it’s lit and clear. The French ship is very dark, but the sail on the British ship is almost holy in its whiteness.
The Battle of Trafalgar (1823-24)
I see that the better part of the painting is incredibly white. There’s so much going on, it’s crazy, and very violent on shore and in the battle. Again, the British ship is holy light, and the French and Spanish ships are darkened. The water is black with blood, in the lower right corner. This contrasts with the bright peaceful blue on the opposite upper left corner.
The Field of Waterloo (1818)
The painting is very dark everywhere except on the one spot where the streak of light falls on. I love that I can see where the sunlight breaks through the clouds. I can’t make out much else besides all the death in the center; landscape is dark and barren.
Mortlake Terrace (1827)
The moss on the trees looks like a thick green coat. The sun is setting and it gives the houses a beautiful golden glow. There’s not a lot of color, only yellows and greens with a bit of red and the black dog. The sun is almost lost in the yellow sky; interesting that there’s no blue in the sky.
Disaster at Sea (1833-35)
First impression: WOW! Later thoughts: so much brown and red! It really conveys the feeling of disaster. There’s an excellent mesh from white to red to brown, with gold scattered. The painting is almost painful to look at.
The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons (1835)
The fire is astonishing; one of his paintings that has so much more red than usual. Looks like the building is melting, and the people are in disarray. The fire devours the left side entirely, but also illuminates the rest of the painting with a deathly glow, making the night sky look like midday.
Snow Storm (1842)
I had to focus to really see the rest of the painting that is drowned out because of the mountain and sky. There’s a big black streak in the top left that I can’t quite understand, and the sun seems to be a small yellow beacon of hope. The soldiers seem to be awestruck by the nature around them, almost praying instead of fighting. There’s a lot of emotion going on.
Norham Castle at Sunrise, (1845)
I see and feel tranquility from this painting. The sky really captures the essence of the Heavens. The landscape is accurately painted and very realistic. The cattle are at peace, as are the people. The castle itself is a bit shadowy, though. I like this one a lot.
Sunrise with Sea Monsters, (1840-45)
This painting is very empty, and indistinguishable for the most part. I’m upset he didn’t get to finish it because reading the title had me pumped for an amazing painting with an incredible sea monster, so that was a letdown. However, maybe out of desperation, I did notice a monstrous set of eyes hidden in the lower middle. There’s a lot of white and yellow, and some brown. I don’t really know what to think, and the more I look at the “face,” the more ugly it gets… but that’s if it’s even there. Also, there’s something that resembles fish scales near the bottom left. Really strange work of art; the more unfinished it is, the more wild my imagination goes.
-Yan Davydov
Turner Paintings
Turner’s use of light, color, space, and texture combine in order to bring to life several different themes and ideas. There are many recurring themes present in the exhibit. Turner uses recurring themes of storms, water, people, battle, death. He drives the viewers to think, using many examples of symbolism. For example, on Mortlake Terrace, the tree symbolizes life, while the bright light penetrating to me symbolizes hope. Although he uses watercolors, the picture created by the viewer’s mind will be as lifelike as could be.
1. The Shipwreck-Beautiful, lifelike painting. I see a ship in a tempest, with a white center, in which different shades radiate from it.
2. The Battle of Trafalgar-Beautiful use of color. The bodies are freaky.
3. The Field of Waterloo-looks very dark, gloomy. The sun is covered. It’s confusing because I don’t quite understand what’s going on.
4. Mortlake Terrace- The trees symbolize life, bright light symbolizes hope.
5. Disaster at Sea-the ocean theme recontinued, the waves look lifelike, out of control
6. The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons-The people are so in shock that they are frozen in time, it is almost as if they are emotionless. It is apparent that it is evening, and the orange glow creates the feeling of fire, which to me represents passion
7. Snow Storm-very similar to the “Disaster at Sea” painting. There seems to be a boat in the center, with white colors swerving around it.
8. Norham Castle at Sunrise-It looks like a desert scene, because it looks like there is a camel in the background. The yellow circle looks like the rising.
9. Sunrise with Sea Monsters-Is the orange blob the monster? It looks like it has eyes, and a mouth. The painting’s use of colors make the monster look smaller.
Elisha Mordechai
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