One Month to Go until Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia Opens at the Laing Art Gallery
There is only one month to go until the Laing Art Gallery will host an ambitious exhibition of one of the world´s greatest artists, JMW Turner (1775-1851), centering on a work that the British public once voted as their favourite painting - The Fighting Temeraire (1839).
As part of National Treasures, a programme marking the National Gallery´s 200th anniversary, the Laing is being lent one of the most recognised and important paintings in the country. Joining this incredible loan will be over 20 additional works by Turner, as well as works from artists such as James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), L.S. Lowry (1887-1976), Tacita Dean (b.1965), and photographers John Kippin (b.1950) and Chris Killip (1946-2020)
Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia will explore in detail the themes of The Fighting Temeraire that highlight the connection between this iconic image and the history of Tyneside. The image of a retired naval vessel on its last journey carries ideas of industry and nostalgia, something that was exploited in 2012´s James Bond film Skyfall, where Bond meets the new Q in front of the painting.
While Turner may not have based the steamboat in the picture on a specific vessel, it is particularly pertinent to the Northeast and its industrial heritage that the two steam tugboats that pulled the Temeraire in reality – the Samson and the London – were both manufactured on Tyneside.
Turner depicted a number of north-east views during his lifetime and the exhibition showcases several examples, including Holy Island, Northumberland (about 1829, V&A), a watercolour he made ten years before The Fighting Temeraire which offers an insight into Turner´s interests such as a seafront setting that includes a remnant of the past, in this case Lindisfarne Castle. Along with works such as Dinant on the Meuse (about 1839, Laing Art Gallery) it also shows Turner´s pioneering watercolour technique.
The role of warships will also be charted extensively with loans from Tate, the Higgins Bedford, and The Whitworth, University of Manchester, as well as a model of the Temeraire from the early 19th-century.
Turner´s experience of the transition to steam power following a lifetime spent depicting seafaring will be shown with smoke-filled works such as Peace - Burial at Sea (1842, Tate) that incorporates a dramatic use of black.
Following on from Turner, more recent artistic interpretations of the British industrial landscape will also be on display, from LS Lowry´s River Scene (1935, Laing Art Gallery), to Tacita Dean’s more conceptual exploration of Sheffield’s industrial chimneys.
The exhibition will close with John Kippin’s video piece ARC (2010), which documents the Tyneside-built warship the Ark Royal leaving the River Tyne for the last time.
With the context and connection to the history of Tyneside at the forefront of this special exhibition, this National Treasure will be seen in a whole new light at the Laing.
Education and outreach workshops will contribute to an intergenerational project thinking about memory and heritage.
Julie Milne, Chief Curator of Art Galleries for Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums says “We are delighted to be partnering with the National Gallery on their 200th anniversary celebration: the National Treasures programme. Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia will showcase one of Turner's greatest masterpieces at the Laing Art Gallery. It is indeed a ‘National Treasure’ - The Fighting Temeraire in Newcastle provides us with the opportunity to connect with people’s shared histories and lived experience, to celebrate our cultural heritage and reflect on what is important to us individually and collectively.”
Pictured: Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775 – 1851, The Fighting Temeraire, 1839, Turner Bequest, 1856 © The National Gallery, London
