National Galleries of Scotland‘s annual Turner in January exhibition is showing Ireland’s Vaughan Bequest for the first time in Scotland, in a unique swap of the two countries’ watercolours by the famous English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851). In the 250th anniversary year of his birth, the Galleries are showing a new selection of over thirty watercolours, in an exchange with the National Gallery of Ireland, including a watercolour of Edinburgh from 1801 that has never been displayed in the city before.
The exhibition has been showing annually since 1901, and is one of the country’s principal art-calendar staples: art collector Henry Vaughan owned over 200 drawings, watercolours and prints by Turner, which he divided in his will between galleries in Edinburgh, Dublin and London. 38 of these watercolours were given to the people of Scotland, on the condition that they are displayed only in January, when light levels are at their lowest – a stipulation which has guaranteed a freshness and an intensity of colour in the works, almost 200 years since they were created.
The exchange of works means that visitors familiar with Turner in January will be able to marvel afresh in Turners’ sweeping seascapes, dramatic landscapes and spectacular cities, but this time will notice how the two collections complement each other. The panoramic Edinburgh from below Arthur’s Seat (1801, pictured) will be on display in the city it depicts for the first time – a moody view of Auld Reekie captured on the artist’s first visit to Edinburgh in the summer of 1801, with dark storm clouds looming over Edinburgh Castle and rain pouring on the horizon while cows drink peacefully in the foreground.
The most famous British artist of the 19th Century, Turner experimented with technique and colour over a career spanning over 50 years, creating landscapes that still astonish today. After touring Britain extensively in his younger years while war made travel in Europe impossible, he began extensive foreign travels from 1819 onwards.
Ireland’s Vaughan Bequest includes outstanding examples of watercolours created to be engraved and published as a print series. A highlight of the exhibition will be A Ship against the Mewstone, at the Entrance to Plymouth Sound from circa 1814, which featured in Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, showing a Royal Navy ship labouring in heavy swell at a notorious danger point on the Devon coast.
Turner aimed to record the landscape and working lives of places and people living along the south coast, such as in another jewel-like watercolour from the same series, Clovelly Bay, North Devon, circa 1822, which shows in great detail the work of quarrying limestone. Also on show will be A Shipwreck off Hastings, circa 1825, which is thought to have been produced for his Ports of England print series.
Charlotte Topsfield, exhibition curator at the National Galleries of Scotland, has said, ‘Exchanging Vaughan Bequest Turners is an idea that Edinburgh and Dublin have been discussing for a long time. We are so excited to be working together on this historic swap in Turner’s anniversary year. It will be such a marvelous celebration for the people of Scotland to enjoy – a real once in a lifetime opportunity to commemorate a very special painter.’
Anne Hodge, exhibition curator at the National Gallery of Ireland, has said, ‘I am delighted that in January 2025 visitors to the National Galleries Scotland will be able to see Turner’s wonderfully expressive vision of a rainy Edinburgh along with all 31 watercolours that Henry Vaughan decided to leave to Dublin. It is a great privilege for me to have worked so closely with colleagues in Edinburgh to make this project a reality.’
Admission is free.
