Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1412885
T his October, Kimbell Art Museum welcomes the mastery of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) in a tour de force exhibition, "Turner's Modern World." The sheer quality of canvases by the artist hailed as one of the greatest British painters of all time is extraordinary. George T.M. Shackelford, Kimbell deputy director and organizing curator for the Turner blockbuster in Fort Worth, says viewers will see "about 40 paintings — but they dominate the exhibition in terms of color and above all in scale, with several at 8 to 10 feet wide." Exhibition goers will also encounter a particularly rich and revealing selection of the artist's drawings and sketchbooks. Encompassing about 120 works — including the touchstones of the artist's career — this international presentation stands as the ultimate guide to Turner. The Kimbell (where the exhibition debuts in the U.S.) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, are the tour's sole American stops. Organized by Tate Britain, London — which owns a mother lode of the artist's works, thanks to the Turner Bequest of 1856 — the exhibition culls oils and watercolors from the Tate and other British lenders, as well as paintings CURATOR CONFIDENTIAL KIMBELL ART MUSEUM DEPUTY DIRECTOR GEORGE T.M. SHACKELFORD WEIGHS IN ON "TURNER'S MODERN WORLD," TRAVELING FROM TATE BRITAIN TO FORT WORTH THIS FALL. By Wade Wilson, with Catherine D. Anspon from storied American institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Yale Center for British Art; and, naturally, the Kimbell, where its masterpiece panel Glaucus and Scylla, 1841, makes an important contribution to the show. "The Kimbell is internationally known and respected as a partner and presenter of world-class special exhibitions," says Shackelford. "Tate Britain first identified the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as a possible partner, since they have a large holding of Turner works as well as the painting Slave COLLECTION TATE BRITAIN, LONDON; PHOTO © TATE, LONDON, 2020 J.M.W. Turner's Burning Blubber, circa 1844-1845 (Continued) 30