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Rain, Steam and Speed
J. M. W. Turner
Turner's Great Western Railway painting, with a thin and unstable paint film typical of his late experiments.
- Artist
- J. M. W. Turner
- Date
- 1844
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 91 × 121.8 cm
- Location
- The National Gallery, London
History
What the record shows
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844, when the railway itself was only three years old.
Turner used mixed media and unconventional grounds; the surface is now too vulnerable for routine cleaning.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
- 01Turner Bequest to the British nation, 1856
- 02National Gallery, London



