Turner and Shakespeare's Jessica
Andrew Wilton discusses a picture that shows the great landscape painter in a role removed from his stereotype, and which tells us much about the changing mores and aspirations of 'Middlemarch' England.
John Ruskin was fond of applying the epithet 'Shakespearean' to Turner. He saw the great landscape painter as a supreme genius, comprehending in his titanic vision all of nature and all humanity – all the human condition. But despite his admiration, he could not bring himself to admire those pictures in which Turner celebrated aspects of the world that Ruskin thought of as squalid or ugly. Of Turner's 'Rain, Steam, and Speed – the Great Western Railway' Ruskin in all his voluminous discussions of the artist could only say he painted it 'to show what he could do even with an ugly subject'. Likewise, when Turner depicted ordinary people on holiday, getting drunk and flirting, Ruskin turned away in pious bourgeois disgust. It was not the artist's job to present us with such trivia.
To continue reading this article you will need to purchase access to the online archive.
Buy Online Access Buy Print & Archive Subscription
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
