Recent Events

The Hickman Bacon Collection – some 400 works in total, in superb condition – is probably the most important collection of English watercolours in private hands. It reflects the personal taste of Sir Hickman Bacon, Bt, who put it together in a period of only about 20 years from 1895. As Eric Shanes wrote, ‘his taste was mainly for evanescent and impressionistic effects’ and thus ‘the collection is especially strong in the type of late, ethereal Turner watercolour that became widely popular only with the advent of abstract painting in the 1940s and 1950s.’ The Society is privileged to have been invited to a private viewing of a selection of gems from the collection.

The 39th Kurt Pantzer Memorial Lecture by Sam Smiles. Sam Smiles writes: ‘Turner is habitually understood as an artist who developed highly sophisticated images of places and their visual apprehension. A great deal of research has concentrated on the physical environments he depicted, real and imaginary, and their realisation in pictorial terms. While Turner’s representation of space has, therefore, become a key concern, his approach to time has received rather less attention. It is, however, something that he engaged with throughout his career on a number of different levels.’

Talk by Nick Reese. Between 1811 and 1814 Turner undertook three summer tours of the West Country during which he gathered material for his Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England series. As well as the drawings in his sketchbooks, the tours inspired Turner to make a number of watercolours and a series of marvellous oil sketches around Plymouth and the Tamar Valley. Nick Reese will talk about his personal selection in front of the works themselves.

Including ‘Sandycombe Lodge: Returning Turner To Twickenham’ – lecture by Catherine Parry-Wingfield.

Peter Hall, Curator of The Lightbox, will describe the exhibits in the exhibition ‘Turner in Surrey’ which explores Turner’s travels through the county (the historic county as constituted prior to 1889). Weather permitting, he will then guide the group along the Basingstoke Canal, depicted by Turner.

Sandycombe Lodge, the villa designed by Turner as his country retreat, has undergone complete renovation and reopens to the public this summer. The Society has arranged a special visit to the newly restored building and its displays.

The collection of Turner drawings and watercolours in the British Museum is large and important, including bequests by John Henderson, George Salting and R.W. Lloyd. Many of these are in superb condition. Our visit provides an opportunity to see a wide range of fine Turners in a traditional print room setting.

The 38th Kurt Pantzer Memorial Lecture by Cecilia Powell. Turner’s travels along the Rhine and its tributaries, together with his many depictions of the area, were the subject of Cecilia Powell’s research at the Clore Gallery in 1989–90. The bicentenary of Turner’s first visit to the Rhineland in 1817 provides an opportunity to review our understanding of that tour.

Members are invited to a private tour of ‘Samuel Prout: A Grand Tour in Watercolour’. This will be an exhibition of paintings by Samuel Prout (1783-1852). It will include works from private collectors that have not been on public display for more than 50 years.

Talk by Pieter van der Merwe.

Our Vice-chairman Pieter van der Merwe will show us the ship models once owned by Turner (which formed the subject of his recent article in TSN 124) together with a selection of associated maritime material held by Tate Britain.