Between the Sheets: Turner’s Nudes – a ‘perfect peep-show of a show’
Exhibition offers ‘tantalising glimpses’ into the personal life of one of our greatest painters
J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) is best remembered as “a genius landscape painter”, said Mark Brown in The Guardian. We revere him for his “turbulent” maritime scenes, his dramatic skies and his radical visions of the English countryside coming into contact with industrialisation.
It is rare that we ever think about his private life, much less his sex life. Yet Turner was a compulsive draughtsman, recording almost everything he saw around him; his romantic encounters were no exception.
Now a new exhibition, held in a bedroom at Turner’s House in Twickenham, is displaying “rarely seen erotic watercolour drawings” made over the course of his long career. The exhibition brings together ten works on paper, some drawn from life classes, others displaying “more erotic, intimate bedroom scenes”; one apparently depicts Sophia Booth, Turner’s lover. The show offers “tantalising glimpses” into the personal life of one of our greatest painters.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
These drawings are “a world away” from emblematic Turner works such as The Fighting Temeraire (1839) or Rain, Steam and Speed (1844), said Lucy Davies in The Daily Telegraph. There are some interesting curios here: one “graphic study of couples during sex” highlights Turner’s interest in “classically inspired erotica”, a fashionable genre at the time. Elsewhere, even the more formal studies of nudes convey the artist’s evident “delight in the female form”.
Yet there is no escaping the artist’s “ineptitude when it comes to bodies”: the figures in these throwaway sketches are almost invariably “crudely done”. The “most satisfying moments” are to be found in depictions of interior details: “canopies, plump pillows, ruffled coverlets and ornate chairs”.
The “famously prudish” critic John Ruskin is said to have burned many of Turner’s erotic sketches, believing they displayed “a failure of mind” on the part of the artist. In a sense, Ruskin had a point. This show is “not an exhibition of masterpieces”.
It hardly matters, said Laura Freeman in The Times. This is a “perfect peep-show of a show”. Each sketch here is “intimate and inviting”, the mood “tender rather than lewd”. A graphite and watercolour drawing from Turner’s Swiss Figures sketchbook (1802) depicting a “two-in-a-bed romp” is mysterious; indeed, it’s difficult to distinguish the sex of the figures it portrays, though “the Swiss dirndl dropped on the floor is unmistakeable”.
More interesting still are a “seductive” group of “loose and languorous” nudes, drawn so faintly that they are “barely there”. Small though it is, Between the Sheets explores its subject “with aplomb”.
Turner’s House, Twickenham TW1 (turnershouse.org). Until 30 October
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Who actually needs life insurance?
The Explainer If you have kids or are worried about passing on debt, the added security may be worth it
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Sexual wellness trends to know, from products and therapies to retreats and hotels
The Week Recommends Talking about pleasure and sexual health is becoming less taboo
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Is the AI bubble deflating?
Today's Big Question Growing skepticism and high costs prompt reconsideration
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Sarah Langan recommends 6 women-centric horror books
Feature The horror novelist recommends works by Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 spacious homes for car lovers
Feature Featuring a 14-car showroom in Oregon and a Bentley-style apartment in Florida
By The Week Staff Published
-
6 serene homes in Vermont
Features Featuring a four-level Shaker barn in Hartland and a Scandinavian-inspired home in Stowe
By The Week US Published
-
Amanda Montell's 6 favorite books that will expand your knowledge
Feature The linguist recommends works by Mary Roach, Alice Carrière, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rowan Beaird recommends 6 compelling books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 spacious homes with great rec rooms
Feature Featuring a suspended fireplace in Arizona and a marine-themed home in Maine
By The Week Published
-
Recipe: gnocchi di spinaci (spinach gnocchi)
The Week Recommends Forget the potatoes for this gnocchi made of the 'classic combination' of spinach and ricotta
By The Week UK Published
-
Stephen Graham Jones' 6 scary books with deeper meanings
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Sara Gran, and more
By The Week US Published