Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia

Keeper of Art Lizzie Jacklin introduces the Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (10 May - 7 September 2024).

"Newcastle’s Laing Gallery has built an ambitious and moving exhibition around The Fighting Temeraire" ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - The Guardian

J.M.W. Turner’s 'The Fighting Temeraire' (1839) - on loan from the National Gallery - is the centrepiece of the exhibition, which explores the rise of steam power and industry in Britain. This is of particular relevance to the North East, with ship building still very much part of the identity of the region.

The Laing Art Gallery is one of twelve partners to be loaned a masterpiece in celebration of the 200th birthday of the National Gallery, with all partners opening their exhibitions on 10 May 2024 – the Gallery’s official bicentenary.

Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia includes over 20 works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), one of Britain’s greatest and most prolific painters. 'The Fighting Temeraire', one of the artist’s best-known works, is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire, which played a distinguished role in The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting shows the final journey of the ship as it is towed along the river Thames by a modern paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap.

It is significant for the North East and its industrial heritage that the two steam tugboats that pulled the Temeraire in reality – the Samson and the London – were manufactured on Tyneside.

In addition to bringing together over 20 works by Turner, Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia includes other important pieces by artists including Tacita Dean, Chris Killip, L.S. Lowry, and James McNeill Whistler.

The exhibition includes sections exploring Turner’s life and career, the role of the Temeraire itself, Turner’s depiction of steamboats and industrial subjects, and the continuing story of the industrial landscape in art.

A small admission charge applies. For more information visit https://www.laingartgallery.org.uk