Turner, Joseph Mallord William and the Impressionists

"The Sunrise, Norham Castle" (circa 1845); is an unfinished oil painting. But for me it is beautiful just in the way it is finished. This painting is in the collection of Tate Britain in London.

This painting was never exhibited in Turner's lifetime; its current popularity has developed since Turner's death. It has been seen as anticipating modern, abstract painting, by transcending its time and subject matter in a shimmer of light. In fact, not only was it never shown in public during Turner's life, but he may have considered it unfinished. Far from being a direct and instinctive response to its subject, it was an imaginary transformation of past experience and recollection. Turner had first painted Norham Castle in 1797, and he continued to be drawn to it as a subject throughout his life.

In his time JMW Turner was ridiculed and mocked. Audiences of those times wanted near-photographic realism in the treatment of material objects, not an exploration of the subtle interplay of light and atmosphere. They wanted a magic window onto idealized bucolic scenes, not the artist's visceral reaction to the elemental violence of actual nature.

Times have changed. The Impressionists have taught us to appreciate the subtleties of the fleeting moment captured by the artist's brush. Now that we have photography to do the job of simply recording events and objects, we are able to more fully appreciate the role of the artist in interpreting those things and capturing the spirit of a subject, rather than merely the material facts. Only a few connoisseurs of his time recognize his role in anticipating the great art movements of the twentieth century.