Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, c. 1827
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.
Thanks to significant grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Art Fund, in 2020 the Athelstan Museum was able to purchase this fine watercolour of Malmesbury Abbey by Joseph Mallord William Turner.
This picture enhances the museum’s existing collection of Malmesbury related art; including works by Thomas Hearne who influenced Turner himself. A rotating exhibition accompanies 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 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.
There was a virtual opening of the Turner display. To view a short film of the opening use the controls at the bottom of the image to the left.
Art students from Malmesbury school took part in a project to produce paintings of Malmesbury Abbey which were put on show in the Rausing Building in June 2023. There were six paintings by pupils chosen to hang beside the Turner painting in the museum. Pictures of these pupils at the Museum were taken.