Synopses & Reviews
Throughout his life Turner was profoundly influenced by the eighteenth-century aesthetic theory of the "sublime." However, as Andrew Wilton now shows, the sublime was not merely a springboard for Turner's innovations; he reinterpreted the theory with great individualism and offered it to the world as a fresh and even more far-reaching philosophy of art.
The 140 illustrations, which include 32 in color, reproduce watercolors and prints that demonstrate the development of Turner's response to the sublime in areas as various as architecture, the picturesque, the "terrific," the sea, cities, mountains, and lakes. Many of the subjects have not previously been published.
Synopsis
This exhibition explores one aspect of Turner's art, in watercolors, drawings and prints. The Sublime as an aesthetic concept has been discussed by numerous writers, and Turner's own interest in the theory as propounded in the eighteenth century by Edmund Burke and others has often been noted. But far from being bound by any theoretical conceptions, he used these as the starting-point for a whole series of technical and artistic innovations.
About the Author
Andrew Wilton is curator of prints and drawings at the Yale Center for British Art.