J.M.W. Turner: Watercolors from Tate
Conversations with Turner: The Watercolors
Mystic Seaport
November 22, 2019
On Friday, November members of the Woodlot Lane Painters: Linda Arnold, Sandra Gifford and Dianne Langlois set off for Mystic Seaport Museum to see the J.M.W. Turner exhibition of watercolors from the Tate. As it is the only venue for the this exhibition, we were very excited that this exhibition afforded us.
An aside: The Woodlot Painter are a happy trio who came together to continue to paint during the summer when the New Britain Museum of American Art painting group is suspended. We also add a weekly session when time permitted to support each others efforts. For each session we select a work by a master painter to challenge us as we tried to improve our techniques without the benefit of a real instructor. We firmly believe that this format helps our painting. The tea and dessert following each painting session also make for a pleasant afternoon regardless of how much success we have with out painting.
Given the background of our group we were anxious to look at each of Turner's paintings with an eye to how he achieved success with watercolors. Over the course of almost two hours we looked and tried to imagine the technique he used to make his landscape come to life. I am not sure we learned any of his secrets, but I can certainly acknowledge that we were all inspired.
The exhibition included 90 works spanning the entire career of Turner. The works were selected from the vast legacy known as the "Turner Bequest". The art we saw was a clear example of his devoted to experimentation with composition and use of colors. It is his use of color that more impressed us in his later works.
Mystic Seaport Museum opened the contemporary Thompson Exhibition Building in September 2016. Named for the late trustee, Wade Thompson, and designed by the renowned Connecticut firm Centerbrook Architects and Planners, the 14,000-square-foot facility includes an outstanding exhibition space, the Collins Gallery, which is the crown jewel among the Museum’s seven such galleries.
After we finished with the exhibition, we had lunch and walked around the campus of the seaport until we were caught in the rain.
Our vist and conversation with Turner was a real treat!
