William. Turner Exhibition: Echoes of the Sublime

Exhibition Information

Exhibition Name: Turner Exhibition: The Sublime Echo Exhibition Period: 2025/6/27 (Fri) - 2025/10/12 (Sun) Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday 10:00-18:00 (Ticket sales and admission stop at 17:00) Exhibition Venue: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Exhibition Rooms 1 & 2 (No. 21, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City) Organizer: United Daily News FunLife Co-organizer: National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Administration Media Co-organizer: Artouch Official Website: https://uevent.udnfunlife.com/TurnerTaipei2025 Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/turnertaipei2025 Video Introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NDTVtA_IUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Ev-MCJqoc

Exhibition Introduction

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), Britain's greatest painter, is known as the "Painter of Light." He was renowned for his exceptional control of color and light, vividly capturing the dynamics and power of nature, and redefining the concept of "landscape painting."

The year 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of William Turner's birth. The Tate Britain is launching a series of commemorative events called "Turner 250." The highlight of these events is the largest-ever global touring exhibition of William Turner's works: "Turner Exhibition: The Sublime Echo." Following Monaco and Shanghai, the third stop on the global tour will be in Taiwan this June. The exhibition features 80 original paintings by William Turner, including sketches, oil paintings, and watercolors, fully showcasing his brilliant creative journey and making it the most significant art event in Taiwan this year!

⊳ Tate Britain

From Private Collection to National Museum: An Art Institution Breaking Traditional Museum Thinking

The Tate Britain was founded in 1897 by Sir Henry Tate, a Liverpool sugar merchant. It initially developed as a national gallery and now has four museums in the UK, including the oldest Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, a center for Northern art in the UK, Tate St Ives, deeply rooted in local cultural development, and the most popular Tate Modern. As the UK's most representative and highly visited museum, the Tate's collection covers 500 years of British and Western art masterpieces, most notably William Turner's hundreds of oil paintings and tens of thousands of watercolors and sketches, which he donated at the end of his life, making them a must-see for visitors. In recent years, the Tate has broken new ground with thematic exhibitions that transcend chronological boundaries, making it one of the most forward-thinking museums in the world.

The Largest-Ever Global Exhibition of William Turner's Original Paintings Debuts in Taiwan

William Turner established a fund during his lifetime to help impoverished artists, which became the most important reason for the Tate to establish the UK's most prestigious art award, the "Turner Prize." After his death, some of his paintings were bequeathed to the nation, and most of his works are preserved at the Tate. The Tate, which has the largest collection of Turner's works, will bring 80 original paintings by Turner, divided into 7 major sections: British Landscapes, The Alps, Venice, Sea Storms, Between Sea and Sky, Historical Stories, and Sublime Aesthetics, spanning his entire creative career. To highlight the epoch-making nature of Turner's works, the Tate has also selected nearly 30 works by contemporary artists to be included in the exhibition, creating an unprecedented, largest, and most comprehensive William Turner exhibition.

Exhibition Highlights

⊳ Beginning with British Landscapes Turner became a passionate observer of the sublime power of nature through his early explorations of the British landscape. His detailed depictions of these natural scenes brought him widespread fame. To truly capture the atmosphere of the environment, Turner often immersed himself in nature to conduct research, incorporating on-site sketches, memories, and imagination, and transforming these elements into stunning paintings.

Landscape Composition with a Ruined Castle on a Cliff by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1792–3. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ Entering the Mountains During his first trip to Europe in 1802, Turner was immediately drawn to the magnificent scenery of the Alps. He began exploring the mountains, directly recording his experiences using sketches and watercolors. Turner was also fascinated by the unique light and atmosphere of the mountains. He observed the color reflections of snow, water, and sky, completing thousands of basic element studies, using unexpectedly bold colors to create striking effects. His mastery of light and color inspired Monet and the French Impressionists, and his innovative techniques influenced generations of artists.

Brunnen, from the Lake of Lucerne: Sample Study by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1843-5. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ Historical Stories In the eighteenth century, when Turner lived, paintings that vividly presented mythological or biblical stories were considered the most noble form of elegant art, with a style mostly leaning towards picturesque classicism. However, Turner created a unique new landscape. He adopted classical scenes and used innovative painting techniques to present paintings that were not too idealized, were more emotionally infectious, and conformed to emerging tastes, which were not only appreciated by his contemporaries but also amazed viewers for centuries to come.

Story of Apollo and Daphne by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1837. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ Venice: A Magnificent City Among the many artists who created works with Venice as the theme, Turner is one of the few who can find emotional resonance with the unique atmosphere of this magnificent water city. His artistic career is remarkable for its achievements and innovations, and his paintings of Venice were immediately recognized as some of his most magical and dazzling works after the first audiences visited. To this day, Turner’s perspective remains significant, expressing the beauty and sorrow of Venice, as well as the terrifying threat of being swallowed by the sea.

Venice - Maria della Salute by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1844. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ Sea Storms Seascapes account for more than half of Turner’s works, including paintings of whaling ships, fishing boats, shipwrecks, and wars. These are some of his most explosive and memorable works. In his paintings, he captured the dangers of the ocean, as well as the smallness and powerlessness of humans in the face of nature.

‘Hurrah! for the Whaler Erebus! Another Fish!’ by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1846. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ Between Sea and Sky Turner not only embodies the great power of nature in his paintings, but also emphasizes its poetic and hypnotic qualities. In his depictions of the ocean and sky, he conducted hundreds of close-up studies of details such as ethereal clouds, energetic waves, and turbulent waves. Observing these details together reveals Turner’s deepest awe of the ocean and sky.

The Blue Rigi, Sunrise by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1842. (Image source: TATE)

⊳ The Sublime Aesthetics of Nature In his later years, Turner created many paintings that purely depict the elements of light and atmosphere. These abstract works contain very few figurative or topographical elements and were even considered “unfinished” at the time. However, judging from the number of such works preserved in Turner’s studio, he had completed these pieces to his satisfaction. These works, which embody Turner’s late style, have earned him the reputation of being a prophet of modern painting.

Three Seascapes by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1827. (Image source: TATE)

The World's Largest and Most Complete Global Tour of Turner's Works, A First for Taiwan

Curator Elizabeth Brooke mentioned that the Tate has never lent out such a large number of Turner's works at once, including more than 40 oil paintings. This will be an unprecedented, largest-scale global tour. The exhibition will also demonstrate William Turner's decisive influence on painting and the sublime expression in Western art through dialogue with the works of nearly 30 top artists such as John Akomfrah, Edward Burtynsky, Olafur Eliasson, Richard Long, Cornelia Parker, Katie Paterson, Mark Rothko, and Jessica Warboys. She also said: "2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Turner's birth, making this summer's exhibition in Taiwan even more meaningful. One of the most anticipated exhibits, 'The Blue Rigi, Sunrise,' will be returned to the Tate and sealed for 10 years after the tour. We sincerely invite everyone to seize this rare opportunity to witness the artistic charm of William Turner."

“Turner Exhibition: The Sublime Echo” Participating Artists —————————————————————————————————————— Joseph Mallord William Turner

(The following are in alphabetical order by last name) John Akomfrah Edward Burtynsky Peter Doig Olafur Eliasson Howard Hodgkin Roni Horn Peter Lanyon Richard Long Lisa Milroy Cornelia Parker Katie Paterson Mark Rothko Wolfgang Tillmans Jessica Warboys

Ticketing Information

[Online Ticketing]

2025.5.7~6.26

• Advance Single Ticket: NT$400
• Couple’s Commemorative Ticket Set: NT$900 (Includes 2 frame-designed commemorative tickets and 1 Couple’s Admission E-ticket) The Couple’s Commemorative Ticket Set requires two people to enter at the same time and cannot be used separately; please present the QR code at the entrance to redeem the commemorative tickets upon admission. This ticket set is for commemorative purposes and cannot be used for admission.
• Exhibition Catalogue Ticket Set: NT$1,650 (Includes 1 Single Admission E-ticket and 1 Exhibition Catalogue)
• Guided Handbook Ticket Set: NT$650 (Includes 1 Single Admission E-ticket and 1 Guided Handbook)
• Audio Guide Ticket Set: NT$530 (Includes 1 Single Admission E-ticket and 1 Personal Audio Guide Device)

Personal Audio Guide

• On-site Rental of 1 Personal Audio Guide Device: NT$160
• Enjoy a 50% discount (NT$80) on the rental of a second personal audio guide device with a pre-sale ticket for this exhibition (excluding audio guide ticket sets)
• Persons with disabilities can rent one personal audio guide device free of charge by presenting their Disability Handbook (original)

2025.6.27~10.12

• Exhibition Period Single Ticket: NT$500
• Exhibition Period Couple's Ticket: NT$920
• Exhibition Period Trio Ticket: NT$1,370

[On-site Ticketing]

2025.6.27~10.12

• Full Ticket: NT$500: Applicable to general visitors
• Concession Ticket: NT$470: Valid for holders of valid student ID cards from domestic universities and colleges (excluding graduate students, community colleges, open universities, and on-the-job training programs), with the registration stamp for the current semester as proof; children aged 3 (inclusive) or above (children under 12 years old cannot enter alone and must be accompanied by an adult with a ticket)
• Discount Ticket: NT$250: Applicable to citizens of the Republic of China aged 65 (inclusive) or above (verification required, limited to one ticket per ID); persons with disabilities and one necessary companion, limited to one ticket per ID (must present the original Disability Handbook and enter at the same time)
• Free Admission: Children under the age of 3 (must present relevant documents and be accompanied by an adult with a ticket; if no documents are presented, eligibility will be determined by whether the child is 90 cm tall) Reminder: Children who are 90 cm (inclusive) or taller without documents must purchase a “Concession Ticket”