Turner's debut in China

Classic works of the great British painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) make their debut in Beijing at the National Art Museum of China until June 28.

The exhibition, Turner from the Tate Collection, is a veritable feast of 112 works created in different periods, including oil paintings and watercolors. The main themes are landscapes and seascapes, some of which are based on historical events.

The masterpiece, Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps, unfolds a scene of war with a magnificent view of dark mountains and blizzard-obscured sky.

Combined with his personal experience of storms in Yorkshire, Turner perfectly represents the grand historical event of General Hannibal's invasion of Italy. Instead of depicting the general and his troops, Turner focuses on the whirling snow, majestic mountains and the cloud-blocked sun.

The painting is underlined by Turner's pessimism toward mankind and also suggests a parallel between Hannibal and Napoleon, alluding to the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France.

Other eminent works like Fishermen at Sea and Snow Storm-Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth are also on show, indicating the powerlessness of humans when faced with the awesome force of nature.

Born into an ordinary family with barely any connection to the arts, Turner rose to become a towering figure in landscape painting. He painted the world around him, endowing landscapes with historical meanings and his personal understanding. He adopted a watercolor technique in oil creations, integrating atmospheric effects and flamboyant brushstrokes into his works.

In his later works, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons and Norham Castle, Sunrise, Turner turned to shimmering colors and used pigments more transparently.

With progressively blurred handling of paint teetering on the edge of abstraction, he infused light and air into his work, as if he were anticipating impressionism.

To smooth visitors' understanding of Turner's art, the paintings are displayed in five sections: Foundations, Britain at War and Peace, The Triumph of Color, The Making of a Modern Master: Painting with Open Eyes, and Into the Light.

The exhibition hall has two video programs, one explaining Turner's painting techniques, the other showing a documentary about him.

9 am-5 pm, until June 28

National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district

6401-7076

中国美术馆, 东城区五四大街1号