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
‘Turner and the County of Kent’
Royal Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HD
Turner visited Kent throughout his life, from his early schooldays to his latter years in Margate. Nick Reese, who has embarked on a county-by-county study of Turner’s work, will examine all aspects of the artist’s relationship with the ‘Garden of England’.
‘Turner and the Modern World’
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
A visit to Tate Britain’s autumn exhibition. Assemble at the exhibition entrance for a brief introductory talk by Amy Concannon, co-curator of the exhibition.
Annual General Meeting and the Annual Christmas Party
Conference Rooms, St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London SW1J 9LL (access via Church Place at the east end of the church)
Including ‘Benjamin Godfrey Windus – Turner Collector’ – lecture by Margaret Burr. A wealthy coachmaker who lived in Tottenham, north London, B.G. Windus (1790–1867) assembled an important collection of over 200 Turner watercolours which was memorialised in a well-known watercolour of his library by John Scarlett Davis in 1835.