Turner prints on show for first time in 100 years

Some of JMW Turner's lesser-known work has gone on display to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth.

The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester said it created the exhibition, which contains 71 prints from Turner's celebrated Liber Studiorum collection, to encourage people to rethink his legacy as a master of oils and watercolours.

The gallery said it was the first time the entire set of the prints had been shown in more than 100 years.

Exhibition curator Imogen Holmes-Roe said it was "probably one of Turner's most ambitious print projects", produced at the height of his career.

Ms Holmes-Roe said the works were being displayed together, as Turner intended.

The exhibition was "exploring his genius as both painter and a master of printmaking", a medium he pursued at a time when printmaking was regarded as secondary to painting, she said.

"Turner's prints are not just technical feats, they are emotional experiences," Ms Holmes-Roe said.

"With each engraving, Turner reimagined landscape - not just as a subject but as a language, using the print medium to evoke mood, atmosphere and scale.

"This exhibition is a celebration of that vision, offering a fresh, immersive look at a body of work that has too often been overshadowed by Turner's oils and watercolours."

The prints have also been paired with some of Turner's famous watercolours and rarely seen paintings.

One oil work has been in the Whitworth's collection since 1922, but was only authenticated as a Turner in 2016, Ms Holmes-Roe said.

"It is very special to the Whitworth," she added.

"Very few people will have had access to it before now."

Turner: In Light and Shade is on view at the Whitworth until 2 November.

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