Hastings Fish Market on the Sands, Early Morning by JMW Turner. HMAG

Coasting

17/05/2009

Turner and Bonington on the Shores of the Channel

Focusing on the first quarter of the 19th century, Coasting explores and compares images of the coast on the English and French sides of the Channel, looking in particular at the work of RP Bonington and JMW Turner. The exhibition and catalogue will show how both artists drew on and transformed the traditions of landscape and marine painting in Britain, France and Holland to forge a new aesthetic that was influential to their contemporaries. At its heart was a mastery of colour and of sparkling atmospherics, displayed in the natural amphitheatre of sea, sky and beach.
Through the works on display and the essays in the accompanying book the exhibition will examine such themes as smuggling and piracy, fishing and fishmarkets, industrialisation and leisure.
A highlight of the exhibition will see return of the Hastings Fish Market on the Sands, Early Morning watercolour by Turner.
Also on display will be a specially commissioned video installation Finisterre by contemporary Spanish artist Gemma Pardo. This will represent a journey along the shores of the English Channel as seen from both above and below the surface of the water, and is a poetic portrayal of the ever-changing borders of landmass and sea. The illustrated catalogue is available to purchase at the museum.

Exhibition organised by Nottingham Castle in partnership with Tate, through Tate Connects, a UK wide visual arts network. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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