Turner vs Martin
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834 By J.M.W. Turner
The Great Day of His Wrath By John Martin
On January the eighth, I went with my class to the Tate Britain Museum. Inside the museum we partook in an audio tour through one of the galleries. The gallery was called Turner & The Masters. The gallery compared the works of J.M.W. Turner to the works of other famously known artists of the time; such as Claude Lorrain, Rembrandt, James Whistler, and Philippe Loutherbourg, basically showing where Turner gained his inspiration and also how he perfected the craft of painting with oil or water color. I felt the museum did at least a good job of making Turner look good, the only problem for me was that more often than not I found myself preferring the painting next to Turner’s more. Now before I go on, I don’t want people to think that this blog entry is here to bash or disrespect Turner’s work. The complete opposite; I highly respect his paintings and am inspired by the way he revolutionized the medium of oil painting on canvas.
When I entered the gallery that day, I knew next to nothing about Turner. Since then I can’t get enough of him. I’ve been reading as many books about him as I can get my hands on; but this blog is not entirely about Turner respectfully. After leaving the Turner Exhibit I ventured upstairs for some fresh air and while I was walking through the Historic British Art gallery, I had to pause at something. Something simply stunning. In the back of the room, there was a wall about eighteen feet high and hung there were three canvases. They were titled in order: The Last Judgement, The Great Day of His Wrath, and The Plains of Heaven. The three paintings depicted the end of the earth, beginning with God’s judgement upon the sinners, the consumption of the earth, and the rebirth of the world anew. The vision within these canvas’ was frightening at first, but there was redemption to be found in the end. Furthermore the scale depicted within these paintings was absolutely breathtaking. I looked down at the artists name and it said John Martin. I had never heard of him before, but I knew that I had found something special.
Going into the gallery that day, I figured I would walk out feeling good that I had seen some good art, but never had I imagined myself walking out with as many books about two men as I could get my hands on. I may not love J.M.W. Turner as much as everyone else, but I respect his work and I know John Martin wasen’t the best painter but I appreciate the scale at which he could take his art to. I discovered that both men were born around the same time, Turner in 1775 and Martin in 1789 and they both died in the 1850’s; Turner in 1851 and Martin in 1854. What I really like about both these artists is their appreciation for scale and color. Turner pisses me off sometimes about detail in his paintings, but that’s not what he’s about. Viewing Turner to me is similar to walking through a dream. I can never see perfectly clear, but I know the beauty is there, and if I stare long enough I’ll eventually find the glory. Martin on the otherhand pretty much throws what he has in your face and say’s “Here’s the end of the world, revel in it.”
My favorite types of art have always been landscape and seascape paintings, and what I really like about Turner and Martin is their prowess for capturing both. Where Turner uses some of his works to question the nature of fate; Martin already had faith. Faith in the essential goodness and the protective power of the divine. Although I agree more with Turner’s viewpoint on the world, I have an immense love and respect for religious art. Martin’s trilogy of paintings (mentioned above) were painted at the end of his life, the last three years before he died. His prophetic vision of the end of the world was a huge success and was unrivaled until the twentieth century with the coming of disaster movies. Although Turner’s art held favor in the world of art long after Martin, it is clear that Turner’s technique for using landscapes to convey heightened emotional states began with Martin. Both men were geniuses and will remain loved and respected by me.
— David Font
