Sponsored by the British Council, the Tate Gallery of Modern Art and the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), a grand exhibition entitled “Turner from the Tate Collection” is currently on display at the halls on the third floor from April 24 to June 28, 2009. The first major relevant exhibition comprises a total of 112 oils and watercolors created by Joseph Mallord William Turner, one of the greatest British artists, from different periods.

A number of officials and artists attended the opening ceremony on April, 23, including Wang Wenzhang, Vice Minister of Culture, Fan Di’an, Director of NAMOC, William Ehrman, British Ambassador to China, Martin Davidson, the British Council's Chief Executive and Stephen Deuchar, Director of Tate Britain.　

Six decades ago, Xu Beihong, a Chinese celebrated artist and artistic educator, expressed his aspiration that the works of Turner would be exhibited in China. It is the great support of the Chinese and the British governments that has made the journey to China possible today, which is regarded as a great event in the cultural exchange between the two countries.

His watercolors and oils full of passions fully reflect his typical style, such as the huge void clouds and sun rays and misty landscape, especially the steam, the speed and the light in the Industrial Age. Such sensitive and modern paintings boast dizzy wavy lines, dazzling sun lights, mysterious and remote deep sea, misty sunset, and so on.

Turner is an artist demonstrating a particular position in the history of the European art. Leading the way in the painting circle at the end of the 18th century, he was devoted to creating the landscape paintings all his lifetime and finally pushed the painting to unprecedented heights.

The artist introduced the historical emotion and the realistic thoughts to the landscape painting in order to make such paintings carrying historical characteristics, the nobility and the magnificence. He made several innovative combinations and finally established a unique style in this field, such as the rich narrative elements and the dramatic passion with the paintings, some factors like the light, the color and the shadow with the lines and the tempo. His paintings represent another climax since the French classical landscape paintings and the Netherland sea-view paintings and boast a unique and rich cultural temperament through integrating the international romantic painting art with the characteristics with the British history and environment. 

Turner led the way compared to the counterparts in the respects of the observation perspective, the creation thought and the technique exploration. According to the relevant research, the Impressionism at the end of 19th century and the Abstract Expressionism in the 20th century date back to the brave and the fruitful exploration of the British artist in the 18th century.

The paintings of Turner bring various aesthetic appreciations, such s romantic and passionate exotic scenery, morals and thoughts embodied in the scenery. His free and unrestrained manners shorten the distance between the Chinese painters with the tradition of the ink and freehand style.

The major masterpieces on display include Fisherman at Sea, Snow Storm, Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps, The Field of Waterloo, Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour, and Norham Castle, Sunrise. The last painting represents his unique style and he was regarded as the pioneer in the field of impressionist paintings.

Arranged by Ian Warrell, the curator of the Tate Britain, and Xu Hong, vice director of the academic department of NAMOC, the exhibition is composed of five sections, namely, before being famous, the Britain in war and peace, the triumph of the color, the appearance of the modern master: outdoor paintings, and entering the light. Such arrangement intends to provide an overall view of his paintings and artistic thoughts on the basis of orderly sequences and further understand the cultural connotations through various subjects and their significance in the artistic history.

Fan Di’an, Director of NAMOC, expressed, the artistic concept and the style of Turner opened up the beginning of the modern painting in Europe. Besides the introduction of the British artist to the Chinese people through quite a few historical monographs and painting collections, the artistic circle and the public are looking forward to appreciate his original works in China. It is the cooperation between NAMOC and the British partners that has made the aspiration come true.　 

Martin Davidson, the British Council's Chief Executive, said, “I feel rather proud of our cooperation, especially the efforts made by our council to introduce Turner, the most prestigious British artist, to China. The exhibition is bound to promote mutual understanding and exchange in more extensive levels. With the sustainable developments in the cultural field, I believe that huge potential and more opportunities will be developed in the fields of the art and the creative industry in the near future. ”

Stephen Deuchar, Director of Tate Britain, said, the exhibition is of great importance as the result of the colleagues of NAMOC in the past few years. We are glad to see the public has such opportunity to appreciate the appeal through the classics by Turner.

At the same time, a great variety of academic seminars and public educational activities will be arranged and then a number of celebrated artistic historians will be invited to discuss with the public. Some seminars special for the college student and the explanation functions for the children will be carried out.