Turner it ain't ....

.... but I like it!

But I do not like Petworth House, let me be upfront about that. It is dark and gloomy and the statuary in the North Gallery is overwhelming, enormous marble classical figures. But we went today to look at the Turner Exhibition. Petworth has the largest collection of Turners still on the site for which they were painted. So you can see Turners in situ, where they were meant to be, in surroundings that haven’t changed since the paintings were made. There are other Turners on loan for the exhibition, and some Turner ephemera such as his trusty fishing rod. The main thrust of the show is Mr Turner, the Mike Leigh film (2014). There is a video where Mike Leigh and others involved in the film speak about their experiences of filming at Petworth. Timothy Spall who plays Mr Turner took a 2 year foundation course in art and drawing in preparation for filming and spent a lot of time learning how Turner would have painted. He found he has some talent himself and some of his work is exhibited too. That’s dedication to your art.
 
It was a very dull afternoon weather-wise, so I chose this view of the interior  of the shrouded Petworth private chapel which at least has a bit of atmosphere. It is the most complete surviving medieval chapel interior.

It’s generally thought that the remodelling of the medieval chapel was ordered by Henry, Lord Percy of Alnwick, about 1684, and hid the wooden roof structure, with an elaborate barrel plaster ceiling. He added a library on the floor above, which became the studio for visiting artists such as Turner. This was unusually open today too, with more of Turner’s bits and pieces, brushes and artefacts etc.

But sadly we came away feeling we had not seen the Turners which particularly interest us, the later paintings filled with light. Still interesting and stimulating, and now longing to see the film.