Turner: Northern Exposure

The exhibition will display 13 works from Turner’s first tour of the North of England which the artist credited with launching his career. Turner was just 22 in 1797 when he spent three months sketching in Northumberland, the Lake District and Yorkshire. He set out an architectural draftsman, intent on visiting the abbeys, castles and cathedrals of the North. He returned as a poet of the landscape sublime, with sketchbooks full of subjects that he returned to again and again throughout his life.

The subjects he painted during this tour, were ones he returned to many times throughout his life, including Norham Castle. A repeat visit in 1845 produced one of his most famous works Norham Castle, Sunrise.