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Rain, Steam and Speed by J. M. W. Turner

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

  1. 01Turner Bequest to the British nation, 1856
  2. 02National Gallery, London

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