Joseph Mallord William Turner, Ivrea, 1836 or c. 1845, watercolor and resist on cream wove paper. The Clark, gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007.8.116

The name of James Mallord William (J. M. W.) Turner is synonymous with the golden age of British watercolor, a period extending roughly from the mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. The Manton gift is rich in examples by (among others) Turner, Thomas Girtin, John Constable, and Hugh William Williams, all of whom were close contemporaries. They embraced the painterly style of watercolor rather than producing merely “tinted drawings” in the manner of earlier artists such as Thomas Rowlandson. The landscape views on display, even if they remain for the most part based on identifiable sites, at times exceed their topographical or documentary intent with a deeply felt aesthetic and emotional engagement that is conveyed to the viewer through layered washes of color.