Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery rarely disappoints with its exhibitions and today we visited their exhibition of the works of Turner. This year is the 250th anniversary of his birth and to mark this the gallery has brought together a large selection of prints, mostly sepia mezzotints, from his Liber Studiorum, or Book of Studies. There were also some watercolours showing his early style.
The title of the exhibition comes from a comment made by John Ruskin: ‘He paints in colour, but thinks in light and shade’. A close look at these mezzotints can leave no doubt about this.
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| Mezzotint of Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire |