The intense relation that J.M.W. Turner maintained with the classics is an aspect of his career that often surprises those who know and love the most innovative side of his art. This being important, the emulation of the greatest classics was a field Turner cultivated earnestly too. There is no way we can understand Turner without unraveling the reasons behind this effort. That is this exhibition's aim.

Prado Museum. From 22/Jun/10 to 19/Sep/10.

Forerunner of future artistic movements (from Impressionism to Abstraction), Turner devoted paradoxically colossal efforts to measure himself with past and contemporary rivals.

Beyond the initial inspiration in the past within the context of artistic training and later adaptation to the conservative taste of his clients, Turner oriented his relation with the classics towards confrontation.

This visiting exhibition coming from the Tate Gallery and the Grand Palais proves the relevance of this continuous rivalry and explores the reasons behind it: ego satisfaction, landscape ennoblishment, didactic dimension,…

Although the reconstructed duels do not necessarily end with a victorious Turner, this proves his ambitious, combative, incorruptible character. The artist’s grandeur is well above the variability of his results.

This exhibition offers a unique opportunity for us to see wonderful works of a grand artist absent from our Spanish museums. It is, besides, a luxury, because of rival works quality: magnificent canvases by Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Ruysdael, Watteau, Canaletto or Constable.