Turner Picture
Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, c. 1827
Thanks to significant grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Art Fund, the Athelstan Museum has been able to purchase a fine watercolour of Malmesbury Abbey by Joseph Mallord William Turner. This will be on display as soon as the museum reopens. With the current Government ‘roadmap’ this will be on 20th May.
The artist simply known the world over as ‘Turner’ needs no introduction. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented artists this country has produced. His connection to Malmesbury is not so widely known but in fact he visited the town three times, first in 1791 aged just 16, and made several sketches of the Abbey and its setting above the Avon.
Developed from Turner’s early sketches and painted in about 1827, our watercolour is one of the 96 which make up Turner’s set of ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales‘ (1825-38). These views have long been celebrated as the finest of Turner’s topographical projects and noted examples of the picturesque movement. The England and Wales series embraced a diverse range of subjects from contemporary to more nostalgic subjects, recorded many years earlier. This view of Malmesbury Abbey falls into this latter category, representing a setting Turner had known since his adolescence, but enriched, when painted, with over thirty years’ experience. It is believed that this is the only finished watercolour of this aspect of Malmesbury Abbey.
This picture enhances the museum’s existing collection of Malmesbury related art; including works by Thomas Hearne who influenced Turner himself. A rotating exhibition will accompany the Turner watercolour in the Athelstan Museum’s mezzanine gallery. Critically this acquisition also offers opportunities for us to run programmes and events aimed at celebrating; and engaging more people with; the town’s rich heritage and culture.
The Museum has published a monograph to mark the acquisition of the painting; written by distinguished Turner historian Ian Warrell and lavishly illustrated with some of Turner’s early Malmesbury sketches and relevant works by other artists. This is available to purchase in the Museum shop and on online. See our Shop page…
The museum was honoured that HRH the Prince of Wales, patron of the Turner Society, recorded an introduction for our series of talks about Turner. You can watch this here.
Here you can listen to an interview with museum volunteer Sue Poolman, telling the story of the Turner and its acquisition by the museum.
Pencil drawing by Tom Girtin of Malmesbury Market Cross.
This is a pencil drawing by Tom Girtin of Malmesbury Market Cross. It is drawn from Gloucester Street looking eastwards and shows as well as the Market Cross the projecting fronts of the houses on the south side of Gloucester Street. Girtin visited Malmesbury twice, in 1791 and 1797.
The drawing was purchased by FOAM in 1982 with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Beecroft Bequest and North Wiltshire District Council and Malmesbury Town Council.
