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London. Art Gallery, Guildhall. Loan Collection of pictures and Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, 1899, no. 25.
England. Birmingham City Art Gallery. Loan Collection of pictures and Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, 1899, no. 25.
Ontario. Art Gallery of Toronto. Great Paintings in Aid of Allied Merchant Seamen, February 4–March 12, 1944.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Paintings and Drawings and Prints by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, and R.P. Bonnington, March 19–April 28, 1946.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Cranbrook Academy of Art. Light and the Painter, September 5–28, 1952, no. 40.
New York. Salander-O’Reilly Galleries. Exploring Late Turner, April 1–June 5, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. November 2001–August 2003 (during TMA renovation).
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. J.M.W. Turner, October 1, 2007–January 6, 2008.
Texas. Dallas Museum of Art. J.M.W. Turner, February 10–May 18, 2008.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. J.M.W. Turner, June 23–September 21, 2008.
London. Tate Britain. Late Turner: Painting Set Free, September 10, 2014–January 25, 2015.
Los Angeles. The J. Paul Getty Museum. J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free, February 24–May 24, 2015.
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free, June 6–September 20, 2015.

In this scene from classical mythology, the god Jupiter transformed himself into a white bull to charm the princess Europa. She climbed onto his back, and he abducted her by galloping into the sea. J. M. W. Turner suggested the figures with strokes of color in a vibrant landscape. In the dark blue sea on the right, a bit of white paint represents the bull’s head, and a brown daub, Europa. Her companions wave frantically from shore. Turner left this work unfinished in his studio at the end of his life.

More to the Story
In the year 8 CE, the Roman poet Ovid gathered tales of transformation in Metamorphoses, which influenced artists—including J. M. W. Turner—from the Renaissance through the 1800s. Some of these stories feature maidens transforming to escape the clutches of male gods, but many others star gods who transform themselves to trick unwitting young women, as when Jupiter changed into a bull to lure Europa.

Acquired by Rev. Thomas Prater; (consigned to Christie’s, London); sold, May 6, 1871 (no. 127). Acquired by Walter R. Cassels, 1871; (consigned to Christie’s, London); sold, June 30, 1906 (no. 63). (Acquired by Colnaghi's, London). (Acquired by Scott and Fowles, New York, NY, 1906); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, February 11, 1907; 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 Taft 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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