Turner’s Wessex: Architecture & Ambition
22 May – 27 September 2015
In May 2015 The Salisbury Museum will mount the first ever exhibition devoted to J M W
Turner’s drawings and paintings of Salisbury Cathedral, the city and its surroundings. Situated
in the Cathedral Close, directly opposite its west front, the Museum is ideally placed to explore
Turner’s relationship with Salisbury and the Cathedral. This relationship began when Turner
was a young man and reveals formidable talent and ambition from a very early age.
Working with the Turner scholar Ian Warrell, we have focused on three aspects of Turner’s
many depictions of the Salisbury area: firstly, his responses to the Cathedral and town,
particularly in connection with the commission he received from local antiquarian, Sir Richard
Colt Hoare who inherited the large Stourhead Estate in 1785; secondly the series of views of the
neo-gothic Fonthill Abbey that he painted for ‘England’s wealthiest son’, the fascinating and
eccentric William Beckford; and finally his work recording the area of central, southern England,
sometimes known as Wessex, extending over a period of thirty years.
Alongside Turner’s works from the Museum’s collection, this exhibition will include extensive
loans from museums and art galleries across the UK including Birmingham Museum & Art
Gallery, British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, National Galleries Scotland, V & A and Whitworth
Art Gallery. The exhibition will also be supported by a substantial loan from the Tate collection.
This promises to be a unique and exciting experience, where the inventive and dizzying
watercolours at the heart of the exhibition, reassembled for the first time since 1883, will show how
commissions from Wiltshire’s great patrons provided the crucial springboard for the career of one
of England’s best-loved artists.
The exhibition will be supported by a programme of events including lectures by Turner scholars,
artist workshops, trails around the Close, Cathedral and City to enable the visitor to stand where
Turner himself stood to make his work, and Turner-inspired family activities.
As part of your group visit, The Salisbury Museum can offer:
 Self-guided visits which include entry to the exhibition and the Museum
 Self-guided rate including an introductory talk, entry to the exhibition and the Museum
 Tea or coffee and cake at The King’s House Cafe
 Lunch at The King’s House Cafe
 Turner Trails – a choice of informative specialist walks led by Blue Badge Guides. These trails
enable the visitor to stand in the places where Turner painted and drew his exquisite images of
Salisbury
We are grateful to our many generous supporters, including The Foyle Foundation, Woolley &
Wallis Fine Art Auctioneers, Smith & Williamson, The Idlewild Trust and The Golden Bottle Trust.