Joseph Mallord William TurnerBritish, 1775–1851Ben Arthur
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Ben Arthur” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- M21182
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
In the life of Joseph Mallord William Turner
The whole life1806–1819
Work on the “Liber Studiorum”
For nearly twelve years he worked on about 70 mezzotints — the “Book of Studies”, inspired by Claude’s Liber Veritatis and meant as a manifesto of British landscape art; commercially it failed because of poor handling of sales and distribution, but it did elevate the prestige of landscape painting.
1808–1824
Summers at Walter Fawkes’s Farnley Hall
From 1808 to 1824 he stayed many summers at Farnley Hall near Otley in Yorkshire with its owner Walter Fawkes, becoming almost part of the family, with a room assigned for his exclusive use.
1819
First journey through Italy
He visited Turin, Milan, Rome, Venice and Naples, studying the works of Titian, Tintoretto, Raphael and contemporary Italian artists; after the trip his painting became brighter, his palette more intense, with primary colours predominating, and the Venetian theme took a special place in his work.
1820s
Print series for publishers
In the 1820s he worked on several topographical print commissions: “Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England” (1814–1826) and “The Rivers of England” (1822–1826) for the Cooke brothers, “Picturesque Views in England and Wales” (1824–1838) for Charles Heath and “The Ports of England” (1825–1828) for Thomas Lupton.
