The Turner Society was founded in 1975 and has members worldwide. It is devoted to furthering the appreciation and understanding of the art of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), who was not only Britain’s greatest painter but arguably the finest landscape and marine painter ever.

Turner was enormously prolific, producing some 550 oil paintings, over 2,000 highly detailed and finely finished watercolours, and some 30,000 works on paper. His bequest to the nation is without doubt the greatest artistic legacy ever bestowed upon the United Kingdom (it is housed in Tate Britain, London, except for a few key works kept at the National Gallery).

The Society regularly mounts lectures and informal talks given by the world’s leading experts on the painter; it organises out-of-hours viewings of important public exhibitions of his work, as well as visits to the Study Room at Tate Britain where the Turner Bequest works on paper are held; and it arranges trips to see private collections that include works by Turner. In addition, it publishes a fine magazine, Turner Society News, which goes to all members twice a year, and it works tirelessly to deepen awareness of the range and power of Turner’s astonishing genius.

“If I could find anything blacker than black I’d use it.”

J.M.W. Turner

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

The Turner Society offers a yearly programme of events. These include lectures by leading experts on the artist; visits to the Clore Gallery for the Turner Collection in London; and trips to important private collections not generally open to the public.

Please note these events are only open to members of the Turner Society and their guests. If you wish to become a member click here.

The City ‘Anchored in the Deep Ocean’: Dickens, Turner and Venice

The City ‘Anchored in the Deep Ocean’: Dickens, Turner and Venice

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 16 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA. And via Zoom link which will be circulated to Members.
The 44th Kurt Pantzer Memorial Lecture by Professor Malcolm Andrews. The lecture argues for affinities between Dickens’s prose evocation of Venice and Turner’s oils and watercolours of the city.
Visit to Petworth House

Visit to Petworth House

Petworth House, West Sussex, GU28 9LR
The Society’s summer outing will be to Petworth, where our tour will be guided by Emily Knight, the National Trust Curator. Members may like to prepare for this visit by watching her talk on ‘Turner at Petworth: Past Approaches and Future Directions’ given on 23 September 2023 on the second day of the Yale Center’s Symposium of which details appear below.

Displaying Turner

Tate Britain, London
Amy Concannon, Manton Senior Curator of Historic British Art, will lead Society members through the rehang of the Turner Galleries and discuss the response from the public.
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