Welcome to
The Turner Society
The Turner Society was founded in 1975 and has members worldwide. It is devoted to furthering the appreciation and understanding of the art of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), who was not only Britain’s greatest painter but arguably the finest landscape and marine painter ever. Turner was enormously prolific, producing some 550 oil paintings, over 2,000 highly detailed and finely finished watercolours, and some 30,000 works on paper. His bequest to the nation is without doubt the greatest artistic legacy ever bestowed upon the United Kingdom (it is housed in Tate Britain, London, except for a few key works kept at the National Gallery).
The Society regularly mounts lectures and informal talks given by the world’s leading experts on the painter; it organises out-of-hours viewings of important public exhibitions of his work, as well as visits to the Study Room at Tate Britain where the Turner Bequest works on paper are held; and it arranges trips to see private collections that include works by Turner. In addition, it publishes a fine magazine, Turner Society News, which goes to all members twice a year, and it works tirelessly to deepen awareness of the range and power of Turner’s astonishing genius.
We hope you will join us.
“If I could find anything
blacker than black I’d use it.”
J.M.W. Turner
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
The Turner Society offers a full programme of events. These include lectures by leading experts on the artist; visits to the Clore Gallery for the Turner Collection in London; and trips to important private collections not generally open to the public.
Please note these events are only open to members of the Turner Society and their guests. If you wish to become a member click here.
Society Events
Lawrence as Portraitist to the Congress of Vienna
Conference Rooms, St James’s, Piccadilly, London SW1J 9LL (access via Church Place at the east end of the church)
Lecture by Andrew Wilton. Thomas Lawrence was a virtuoso – the equivalent in portraiture of Turner in landscape – and they were contemporaries. By 1814 when the Allied leaders came to London to celebrate Napoleon’s defeat, it was appropriate that Lawrence should record them for posterity.
Turner and Colour
Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate CT9 1HG
Colour is the essence of Turner’s work, and his distinctive, sometimes eccentric use of vibrant colour was central to his success as an artist. Featuring more than 70 works, this exciting exhibition, curated by Ian Warrell, will highlight Turner’s engagement with developments in colour theory and his adoption and exploitation of new materials.
Annual General Meeting and the Annual Christmas Party
Conference Rooms, St James’s, Piccadilly, London SW1J 9LL (access via Church Place at the east end of the church)
Including ‘W.L. Wyllie (1851–1931): Victorian Turnerian’ – lecture by Pieter van der Merwe. The marine work – especially the etchings – of William Lionel Wyllie is both familiar and popular, yet his subject range and quality as an artist, especially in watercolour, are under-recognised.