Saturday 04 February 2012
Brighton & Hove Successfully Bids To Bring Turner Watercolour To The City
A Turner painting of Brighton will go on public display for the first time in more than a century after beingbought by the city's Royal Pavilion and Museums.
The watercolour, believed to have been painted in 1824/5, has been in private hands and unseen by the public for more than 100 years.
The painting depicts Brighton from the sea, with the newly constructed chain pier on the right of the picture and the Royal Pavilion at the centre.
Jenny Lund, Curator of Fine Art at the Royal Pavilion and Museums, said:
"The watercolour The Chain Pier, Brighton will be a tremendous asset for the Royal Pavilion & Museums and its fine art collection.
“It will highlight the international importance of the collection as it will strengthen our current holdings of artworks relating to the cultural history of the Pavilion and the historical development of Brighton & Hove."
Its whereabouts were unknown for so long, and we did not want it to disappear into obscurity again."
It will go on show at the Royal Pavilion soon after it arrives in the city and will be the star attraction of a new exhibition at the historic royal palace next year.
The Royal Pavilion & Museums service successfully bid (at a cost of £225,000) for the watercolour, The Chain Pier at Brighton, at an auction at Christie's in New York.
Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for the South East, added:
"We are delighted to have been able to help the Royal Pavilion Museum purchase this exceptional painting by Turner.
“Thought lost for so many years it will now be returned to the people of Brighton where it will provide a fascinating insight into the town's early 18th century history."
The Chain Pier, Brighton measures 15.2 by 22.9cms and is pencil, pen, black ink and watercolour.
It represents a significant and important period in British and Brighton’s historyand reveals a great deal about the social, economic and cultural conditions of Britain in the 1800s.
The composition emphasises what was new in Brighton and wonderfully captures the bustle and excitement of the town.
Turner has placed the Royal Pavilion in the centre of the picture, emphasising the contribution made by George IV to the establishment of Brighton as a pleasure resort.
The right hand side of the image is devoted to the recently built Chain Pier, a bold statement of technology and engineering and the country’s first pleasure pier.
Besides this modern wonder, Turner depicts traditional Brighton fishing boats,juxtaposing the old and the new.
Once the painting is brought back to Brighton, it will be placed on display in the Royal Pavilion for a short period.
Following this, in 2013, the watercolour will be the centrepiece in a new temporary exhibition at the Royal Pavilion.
The exhibition will explore the town’s development in the early 19th century and the important relationship played by the Pavilion in Brighton’s development.
It will also explore the changing relationship Brighton has had with the sea: from its humble beginnings as a fishing town to its fashionable status under George IV as a seaside resort and latterly as a tourist attraction.
by: Mike Cobley
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