AFA Winter 2019

Winter 66 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851), Funeral of Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Sketch from Memory. Exhibited 1830. Watercolor and bodycolor on paper, 561 x 769 mm. Tate: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856 © Tate, 2019. This is an unusual work for Turner, as well as a large work for a watercolor. It depicts the funeral of Turner’s dear friend, Sir Thomas Lawrence , president of the Royal Academy, the institution to which Turner was most loyal as an artist, and where he served as Professor of Perspective for many years. A few things are notable here: the dark palette contrasts with much of Turner’s later work in watercolor; the people are not well drawn—a constant observation of Turner’s art in his own time (today’s critics aren’t much kinder); and the prominence of the man in red coat arriving at the funeral. This is believed to be the Duke of Wellington, prime minister at that time, who did not in fact attend the funeral. Is Turner correcting a faux pas? Twenty-one years after Lawrence’s funeral, Turner would also be buried in the crypt at St. Paul’s. This was the last watercolor Turner exhibited at the Royal Academy in his lifetime.