By 1810, JMW Turner was a recognised and celebrated painter in the style of the Old Masters and, as described in the introduction to the Turner Contemporary Gallery’s latest exhibition on the artist, Turner ‘quickly matched and superseded them’. Many would agree that Turner did surpass the Old Masters, but it is important to ask ‘how?’. And, more importantly, how can his techniques be put into action in the studio?
REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
Turner’s Old Master technique was essentially a traditional ébauche (a dark liquid glaze placed over a ground), upon which he added more bodied paint, glazes, scumbles and, ultimately, impasto. This is standard baroque painting and Caravaggio, Velázquez or Rembrandt would have instantly understood how any of Turner’s early oils were made, which begs the question: how did…
