A painting by one of England's most famous artists is to go on show in Newcastle, it has been announced, following the Laing Art Gallery's success in being chosen to exhibit one of the country's most treasured works.
The city gallery is to host a painting by J.M.W Turner through a special partnership with the National Gallery in London which has picked 12 venues across the country to take part in National Treasures. This will involve the loan of 12 priceless artworks for exhibition across the country next year as part of the National's 200-year birthday celebrations.
The Laing announced the news on Tuesday, adding that it will display Turner's 1839 painting The Fighting Temeraire for almost four months from May 2024 and it said it is "delighted" to have been chosen as a host venue. The selected painting is one of the artist's best-known works and was voted as the nation’s favourite painting in a 2005 poll run by BBC Radio 4. It also features on the £20 bank note.
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, who lived from 1775-1851, is said to be the best-loved of the English Romantic artists and he was one of our greatest and most prolific painters. This work is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire, which played a distinguished role in Lord Nelson’s victory at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, says the Laing.
It depicts the ship's final journey as it was later towed along the river Thames by a paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap. The Fighting Temeraire will go on show at the Laing at the same time as the other works are unveiled at the other 11 venues: on May 10 next year and visitors will be able to see it until September 7, as part of a wider exhibition centred around themes of art, industry and nostalgia linking to the rise of steam power and industry in Britain.
The shipbuilding element is set to be of special interest locally, given ships are such a part of North East heritage. While Turner may not have based his steam boat on a specific vessel, the gallery points out that the two steam tug boats which pulled the Temeraire in real life were the Samson and the London and they were actually manufactured on Tyneside.
Julie Milne, chief curator of art galleries at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said: "We are thrilled to have this opportunity to join in the National Gallery’s 200th anniversary celebrations and showcase one of Turner's greatest masterpieces at the Laing Art Gallery. It is indeed a National Treasure.
"The Fighting Temeraire in Newcastle provides us with the opportunity to connect with people’s shared histories and lived experience, to celebrate our cultural heritage and reflect on what is important to us individually and collectively.”
All 12 National Treasures going on show - and where - in 2024
• Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, The Fighting Temeraire (1839), Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, The Wilton Diptych (about 1395-9)
• Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Self Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640), Rembrandt (1606-1669)
• Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, The Hay Wain (1821), John Constable (1776-1837)
• The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Venus and Mars (about 1485), Sandro Botticelli (about 1445-1510)
• Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (about 1615-17), Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654 or later)
• Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, The Umbrellas (about 1881-6), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
• The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, The Stonemason’s Yard (about 1725), Canaletto (1697-1768)
• Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal (about 1670-2), Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
• Ulster Museum, Belfast, The Supper at Emmaus (1601), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)
• Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, The Rokeby Venus (1647-51), Diego Velázquez (1599-1660)
• York Art Gallery, The Water-Lily Pond (1899), Claude Monet (1840-1926)
The opening of National Treasures will kickstart a year of bicentenary celebrations for the National Gallery. Its Christine Ridings said: “We thought carefully about where to send these most iconic and well-loved paintings in our collection.
"As well as being able to look after these works to an extremely high standard, we approached our partners for National Treasures because of their exciting ideas and brilliant reputations within their community. We are very excited to see the interpretation and audiences that our partners will bring to these most treasured paintings.”
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