European Paintings

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London. Grosvenor Place. 1819, no. 24.
Leeds. 1839, no. 60 or 65.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by J. M. W. Turner, John Constable, and R. P. Bonington, March 19–April 28, 1946.
Ontario. Art Gallery of Toronto. J. M. W. Turner, October 6–November 18, 1951, no. 39.
Ottawa, Ontario. The National Gallery of Canada. J. M. W. Turner, December 1–31, 1951, no. 39.
St. Louis, Missouri. Washington University Art Gallery. The Beautiful, the Sublime, and the Picturesque: British Influences on American Landscape Painting, February 18–April 8, 1984.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. J. M. W. Turner: The Foundations of Genius, September 18–November 2, 1986, no. 28.
Aosta, Italy. Archaeological Museum of Aosta. Turner, Mont Blanc and the Val d'Aosta, July 8–October 8, 2000.
Minnesota. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. January–March, 2002 (during TMA renovation).
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, May 15–July 4, 2004.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, June 24–August 21, 2005.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, July 21–October 1, 2006.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, February 29–May 4, 2008.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, April 17–June 14, 2009.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Turner Watercolors from the Taft Collections, May 28–August 1, 2010.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. J. M. W. Turner: Watercolors to Books, February 10–April 15, 2012.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Travels with Turner: Watercolors from the Taft Collection, January 18–April 14, 2019.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. J.M.W. Turner: Watercolor Horizons, March 1–June 15, 2025.

Turner’s view of the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) near Mont Blanc in the French Alps, which he visited in 1802, depicts the power of weather, glacier, and mountain overwhelming the tiny goats and shepherds in the foreground. The broken trees further confirm nature’s might.

Turner’s Techniques
To depict branches, Turner scratched out dark pigment to reveal bright white beneath. He freely painted the sky and distant mountains with watercolor washes, reserving the white of the paper for the glacier. He then applied transparent touches of blue to indicate ridges and crevasses in the ice. Turner used a fine brush to create a soaring bird at upper left, emphasizing the landscape’s massive scale.

Acquired by Walter Fawkes, Farnley Hall, England; by descent to Ayscough Fawkes, Farnley Hall, England; (consigned to Christie's, London); (purchased by Agnew's, London, June 27, 1890 (stock no. 47)). Acquired by Humphrey Roberts. (Acquired by Scott and Fowles, New York, NY); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, November 25, 1905; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

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