22 June 2010 the Prado will inaugurate the major exhibition Turner and the Masters, from London (Tate Britain, 23 September 2009 to 31 January 2010), and Paris (Grand Palais, 22 February to 24 May). The exhibition looks at the way that Turner produced his work in full awareness of the art of the great Old Masters, whom he studied in depth, while simultaneously paying attention to the artistic activity of a number of his contemporaries.
For the first time, the exhibition establishes a dialogue between Turner’s most important paintings, works by masters of other periods and those contemporary with his own time. The version of the exhibition to be seen at the Museo del Prado, which will comprise 80 paintings loaned from European and American institutions and collections, will include various works not shown in London and Paris. These include Shade and Darkness. The Eve of the Flood, Light and Colour. The Morning after the Flood, and Peace. Burial at Sea, three masterpieces from the end of Turner’s career.
Turner and the Masters aims to offer a complete overview of the artist’s oeuvre in order to reveal his connections with other painters of the stature of Rembrandt, Rubens and Claude Lorraine, among others, as well as the profoundly original way in which he absorbed their influence from the outset of his career to his final compositions.
