Turner: The Experience of His Moral Force
The reason I am interested in the
late Turner is his experiments with the “active vision”. His breath of
handling, freedom of form, and his view of what it means to paint light itself.
Turner really belongs to the British region of the earth just as much as a
comet belongs to any particular section of space. In the 1830’s and 40’s he
became very experimental but it was always in the service of narrative
reflection of moments in history. Turner was very passionate about being a
member of the Royal Academy because to him it was a brotherhood of art and
integrity. To Turner art was worthless unless it said something. He is someone
that will take the hum drum paintings of the time and turn it into something
with poetic bigness. In a lot of his work he was ahead of his time one could
compare him to Jackson Pollock where you feel the presence of the artist. He
anticipates modernity in his focus on light, space and time and he shares this
with the public by opening his own studio. His work still today influences many
impressionist and abstract expressionists with his experimentation and
innovation which shows his position in Art History; creating a vision so
powerful that it still affects us today.
At the beginning of Turner’s life a
war between Britain and France had been ongoing until 1815 when Napoleon was
defeated at Waterloo. With this defeat people were able to move more freely
thus artists like Turner would be exposed to different areas and art. Turner
being a part of the Royal Academy was exposed to the movement of romanticism
that showed “feelings through exciting subjects, many aspects of the natural
world were sources of inspiration, including storms and the sea.”[1]
This idea of romanticism is seen even in his later years when his compositions
completely change. This is not to say that it was necessarily a linear journey
because Turner did not wait till his later years to paint his more vague
compositions. The Tate Museum of Britain located in London has this similar
outlook and will be my role-model for my exhibit. It is one of four galleries
and this gallery is to help visitors understand and enjoy British art. The collection
comprises the national collection of British art from the year 1500 to the
present day, and international modern art. Their taxonomy is also chronology
and with this “individual rooms explore particular themes or show one artist in
depth.
In order to show the full riches of
the collection, displays are changed on an annual basis. Each room has an
introductory text and each work has a short introductory caption”[2].
Turner’s work is in eight rooms currently separated by watercolor, romanticism,
early and late Turner, and their room showcasing how Turner experimented with
watercolors. They received his work five years after his death by something
called the ‘Turner Bequest’ in which works found in his studio went to the
nation. This will probably be my main source for my approach because I am
really interested with his process of and why in his later years critics were
so hard on him. To begin in the subject of his process of execution the work
that comes to mind is Dolbadern Castle (Image 1). This shows Turner’s
early work and creativity, with the topography Turner took some liberties to
make the landscape more dramatic. In reality there are grassy mounds but Turner
invents this sheer cliff to make it powerful and almost melancholy. “Turner
gives us a lonely tower, wild landscape, and a solitary figure, but to a
purpose. Some verses Turner wrote alludes to the history of when a Welsh Prince
was imprisoned there”[3].
The context of the composition while important is not really what the focus is
in this discussion.
The theme is simple but the sky shows
something is beginning to brew. “Turner must have worked very fast, using the
colored chalks as naturally as if he had always used them.”[4]
He used these chalks to make preliminary sketches and although they may seem
primitive they also seem to have that modern feel. As Turner enters maturity he
has an obsession to really bring about a poetic cycle of death and rebirth. He
gets his chance on October 16th 1834. He is woken up and receives
news that the houses of parliament are burning. Two years before a new wig
government had come into being. This was a moment of destruction and rebirth.
There are two versions of The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons
(Image 2). This slide is taken from further downstream looking towards the
Westminster Bridge. The river is absurdly expanded and honestly looks to be
twice the size of the Amazon but Turner sometimes took liberties. I like that
this is a point of view of a spectator because while some people were horrified
others were cheering the fire on because it represents the notion of change with
the parliamentary reformation.
Westminster bridge looks nothing
remotely like it did then and it seems to simply kind of melt. You can see the
structure engulfed by flames and the chapel remarkably survived. “The
right-hand section in shimmering white appears to be drawn in a
parallel-perspective manner; in contrast, the perspective of the left hand
section, illuminated in glowing colors, is pushed beyond the realistic”[5]. He makes the scene have an almost urgency
with the people pushing and shoving trying to get into boats to see the
consuming flames. The bridge separates the chaos of the flames and the peaceful
blue starry sky on the other side. Turner edits details so the observer must
isolate objects; he resists the tendency towards realistic representation.
Turner didn’t want to be a literal journalist of the event; he wanted people to
respond their own way. It’s right to think of Turner as the first modernist but
probably not right to think of him as the first impressionist. Really he
represents the most profound and moving challenge, can modernism actually
sustain the profound moral force of history paintings? For example how would we
represent 9/11 in painting? Can art do that?
You begin to see that Turner’s objects begin
to lack solidity, his forms almost appear soft but this I believe works to his
advantage especially so in Snowstorm at Sea (Image 3). With this you
right away get a strong emotional response. The swirling vortex of the storm
and the difference of color between the waves and sky. It really tells a story
and is similar to the burning house of lord and commons like the flames his
waves become the scene of the action. The viewer is drawn into the sensations
of the storm and vortex of the sea. An admirer was said to have approached
Turner and said he liked the picture Turner responded, “I only painted it
because I wished to show what such a scene was like. No one has any business to
like it.”[6]
This space though was not created by mere observation. Turner had a pictorial
intelligence which can be seen in his numerous experiments of chalking like for
Dolbadern Castle. One could even compare this to Jackson Pollock’s work,
which makes you feel the presence of the artist, looking at the twists and
turns of paint.
Turner’s brushwork creates a need for
the viewer to make their own insinuations about what is happening. “Turner was
traveling on a boat called the Ariel during the storm and wanted to
record what it actually felt like to be right in the middle of a violent storm:
‘I did not paint to be understood, but I wished to show what such a scene was
like; I got the sailors to lash me to the mast to observe it; I was lashed for
four hours.’ He was 66 years old at the time”[7].
This story is amazing but no one knows if it is true since Turner was known to
be a good advertiser. Looking carefully, the viewer can see the mast bending in
the wind as the waves circle the tiny steam boat with thick blobs of white and
yellow paint. His ingenious brushwork contributed to the action. It is no
longer just a picture of nature but an experience of nature.
Turner continues this idea into his
next piece Shade and darkness- the evening of the Deluge (Image 4). The
deluge story was said to be “a vehicle for his intuition of the primeval forces
of earth, air and water as they are recreated by the originating power of
light.”[8]
Turner’s use of opposing cool and warm colors is genius to create certain
emotional associations. In this swirling chaos is a scientific vision made by
Turner responding to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe whom created a color theory.
“Here, he responds to Goethe’s plus and minus colors that address both the eyes
and the emotions. The plus colors of yellow and red-yellow excite lively
feelings, while blues impart gloomy and melancholy emotions, or the impression
of cold.”[9]
Turner didn’t necessarily believe in following the theory religiously he used
the interpretations when he saw fit. The darkness really works well contrasted
with the light sky. The birds flying appear to scatter in the chaos while the
blackness below combines with the red hues gives off an aura of fear. Looking
closely the viewer can see animals cowering and possibly to the left a human
figure laying in wreckage. Turner also created a companion piece to go alongside
the same idea called Light and color- the morning after the deluge-Moses
writing the book of Genesis. (Image 5). The viewer can see it is the
opposite of the darkness with many warm colors of orange and yellows. The
serpent staff in the middle is a clear symbol of Moses and like the companion
piece is painted in a circular motion.
Turner uses these same warm colors in
the final piece Europa and the Bull (Image 6). This last work while
unfinished says a lot about what Turner was trying to achieve. Even though the
objects are vague, it shows that the subject matter never left his concern.
Because of the title we know what it is but what does it do? The way he conveys
the subject puts the viewer onto a pedestal in that it is up to the viewer’s imagination
to know what part of the story is being portrayed. The story is that Zeus was so taken by a
beautiful maiden Europa so he disguised himself as a bull and when she got on
his back he carried her away and made her his bride. The way he conveys the
subject really leaves it up to the viewer to decide what part of the story is
being portrayed. Maidens wave goodbye to Europa. In the distance, Europa rides
on the back of Jupiter, who is disguised as a white bull crossing the dark sea.
That’s how I see it but it may not be what you see.
His pictures have a special quality
to them. The repeated appearances of certain motifs which are seen throughout
his work. Such, for example, is the vortex or whirlpool, which became more and
more the underlying rhythm of his designs, and of which there is a strong
suggestion in the Snowstorm. One is sucked in to the chaos and confusion
of the fire at the House of Lord and
Commons, your eyes stagger along with the pushing crowds in the foreground.
The mood is unquestionable while the details are left solely to the
imagination. Turner creates a vision so powerful that it still affects us
today. So why was his vision so powerful? Popular lore says that because of his
old age and frail health he was only able to make vague creations but I believe
by this time Turner looked more into himself and thus it could not be
adequately expressed in one particular form. “It is not that he saw the world
indistinctly, but that his ideas were incapable of definition.”[10]
This comes to the subject of
Impressionism. Whenever Turner’s name is brought up the title “father of
impressionism” also comes up but the exact definition of impressionism is not
really easy to grasp as with all of the other isms. You have to really look at
what the aims of the ism are. Impressionism seems to want to get rid of
pre-conceptions like recognition or associations. “Turner cannot be properly
described as an impressionist because his aim was consistently lyrical, i.e.
strongly subjective and emotional.”[11]
I realized and came to this conclusion when studying not just the finished
works of art but Turner’s process. The actual works are just factors or
stepping stones into the mind of the artist helping to connect with the
spectator. With this connection comes active communication bridging the gap
between isms or art generalizations to create a “phenomenon of artistic
activity”.[12]
Bibliography
Bockemühl, Michael. J.M.W. Turner, 1775-1851: the world of light and colour. Köln:
Benedikt Taschen, c1993.
Chilvers, Ian. Sea, sky, & storm. Danbury, Conn.:
Grolier Educational, 1996.
Clark, Kenneth. Looking
at Pictures.
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/turner/snwstorm.jpg.html
Finberg, A.J. Turner’s Sketches and Drawings. New York:
Shocken Books, 1968.
Kenner, Robert. J.M.W. Turner: New York: H.N. Abrams,
1995.
Townsend, Richard P. J.M.W. Turner, "that greatest of landscape painters”:
watercolors from London museums. Tulsa, Okla.: Philbrook Museum of Art in
association with the University of Washington Press, 1998.
Wilkinson, Gerald. Turner’s early sketchbooks: New York:
Watson-Guptill Publications, 1972.
Wilton, Andrew. Turner: in his time. New York: Harry
N. Abrams, 1987.
Tate Britain, London, England. “About Tate Britain”.
16 March 2011.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/about.htm.
[1] Kenner, Robert. J.M.W. Turner: New York:
H.N. Abrams, 1995. P.16.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/about.htm.
[3] Townsend,
Richard P. J.M.W. Turner, "that greatest of landscape
painters”: watercolors from London museums. Tulsa, Okla.: Philbrook Museum
of Art in association with the University of Washington Press, 1998. P. 42
[4] Wilkinson, Gerald. Turner’s early sketchbooks:
New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1972. P. 94
[5] Bockemühl,
Michael. J.M.W. Turner, 1775-1851: the world of light and colour.
Köln: Benedikt Taschen, c1993. P. 29.
[6] Clark, Kenneth. Looking at Pictures. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/turner/snwstorm.jpg.html
[8] Wilton,
Andrew. Turner: in his time. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987. P. 211
[9] Color
Vision and Art. Turner and Delacroix. http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/romantic-color.html
[10] Finberg, A.J. Turner’s Sketches and Drawings. New
York: Shocken Books, 1968. P. 121
[11] Turner’s Sketches and Drawings. p. 122
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