J. M. W. Turner, Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water (detail), 1840. Oil on canvas. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Image courtesy Clark Art Institute.
J. M. W. Turner, Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water (detail), 1840. Oil on canvas. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Image courtesy Clark Art Institute.
Turner, Forerunner
1:00 pm–2:00 pm
As argued in “Turner’s Modern World,” the painter J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) embraced the great issues of his day more than any of his contemporaries. He was not only an artist of his time, but in many ways ahead of his time. His radical approach to painterly handling—both in oils and watercolor—anticipates by several decades the loose brushwork of the French Impressionists and by a century the expressive strokes of the Abstract Expressionists. Frederick Ilchman, curator for the Boston venue of the exhibition, explores what makes Turner modern and the artist’s influence on later generations.
Frederick Ilchman, Mrs. Russell W. Baker Curator of Paintings and chair, Art of Europe.
Assistive listening system
Wheelchair accessible
Ticket Information
To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975 ($6 processing fee applies); to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk.
Auditorium Mask Policy
Masks are optional, but visitors are no longer required to wear them while attending events in Remis Auditorium and Alfond Auditorium.