“He has been here and fired a gun”: Turner, Constable and the Royal Academy
12 January - 31 March 2019
The Collection Gallery, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
Daily 10am – 6pm
Free
Friends of the RA go free
See two legendary works of art reunited in this focused display in the Collection Gallery, and judge for yourself who stole the show at the Summer Exhibition of 1832 – was it JMW Turner or John Constable?
Artistic rivalries are nothing new. Matisse and Picasso. Bacon and Freud. But the rivalry of our most famous RA Schools graduates, Turner and Constable, was never more fraught than on the eve of the Summer Exhibition in 1832. The story goes that when Turner saw his cool-toned seascape Helvoetsluys hung next to Constable’s scarlet-flecked Thames scene The Opening of Waterloo Bridge, he was piqued by the prospect of being upstaged. So in a retaliatory move, he planted a single daub of red in the sea of his own canvas, later finessing it to look like a buoy bobbing in the choppy seas.
When Constable saw what Turner had done, he declared: “He has been here and fired a gun.”
The episode, first recorded in 1860 by Charles Robert Leslie, features prominently in Mike Leigh’s biographical drama Mr Turner (2014). The two pictures will be reunited in this special display in our Collection Gallery.
Daily 10am – 6pm
Free
Friends of the RA go free
The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (‘Waterloo Bridge, from Whitehall Stairs, June 18th, 1817’), 1832
Helvoetsluys (‘Helvoetsluys; – the City of Utrecht, 64, going to sea’, 1832
Tokyo Fuji Art Museum/Photo Ⓒ Tokyo Fuji Art Museum/Bridgeman Images
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Join a panel including British filmmaker, Mike Leigh, historical consultant and author, Jacqueline Riding, and Oscar nominated production designer, Suzie Davies, as they discuss the importance of truth, storytelling and revealing hidden histories in film. The event will be chaired by writer, critic and broadcaster, Francine Stock.
The Collection Gallery
Discover highlights from the RA Collection
This free display features notable works from the RA Collection, including an almost full-size 16th-century copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper and casts of key classical sculptures (most notably the Belvedere Torso).