This is a sponsored article on behalf of Turner’s House.
It should come as no surprise to fans of J.M.W Turner that the great landscape artist sought a home close to the Thames. River and seascapes loom large in his body of work: broiling coastal storms, sunlight shimmering on water, mist that blurs the horizon into an indistinct haze.
Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham was built in 1813 to be Turner’s country retreat. Back then, the area was properly rural; the lodge boasted distant yet unspoilt views of London’s main waterway, which was a half-mile stroll from the artist’s front door. Today, the area looks very different, except for one house — Turner’s House, which has been beautifully restored and is now open to the public.
Turner’s House was designed by the artist himself (with some probable help from the eminent architect Sir John Soane), so you might consider it his largest work of art. And now’s a great time to step inside it, with a new exhibition that spotlights one of Turner’s most enigmatic seascapes and tells a tangled tale of a contentious art bequest.
Unfinished Business: The Mystery of Margate and Turner’s Bequest explores the history of J.M.W. Turner’s painting ‘Margate(?), from the Sea’ (1835–40), and its place within the Turner Bequest. The painting is one of Turner’s later works, and the question mark in its title is not a typo — while the barely-distinguishable white cliffs in the background resemble other Turner depictions of Margate, the artist never publicly named or exhibited the painting.
‘Margate(?), from the Sea (1835-40)’ is on loan to Turner’s House from the National Gallery. It was donated to the nation as part of the Turner Bequest — a collection of nearly 300 oil paintings and over 30,000 sketches and watercolours bequeathed in various iterations of Turner’s will across the decades. The Turner’s House exhibition digs into the drama surrounding the bequest: from the cousins who contested the will, to the paintings left uncatalogued and hidden away for decades.
As well as giving visitors the chance to see a Turner painting within the intimate setting of the artist’s home, Unfinished Business: The Mystery of Margate and Turner’s Bequest also boasts a copy of Turner’s will, original documents and letters from the National Gallery archive, and paintings by artists inspired Turner.
The exhibition is not, of course, the only reason to visit Turner’s House. There are the artist’s beautiful etchings from his Liber Studiorum, part of the museum’s permanent collection. There are the Soanean arches in the hallway and the telescope in the bedroom, which reveals the view that Turner would have enjoyed. And don’t forget to check out the delightfully whimsical audio-visual installations in the basement.
Turner’s House is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 12pm-4pm. Admission costs £12 for over 25s, £6 for 18-25s and £3 for children, and includes access to the exhibition — plus the option of a guided tour if you time your visit right. Book your tickets today.
