PAGE 16. Was 'The Battle of Trafalgar' Turner's Waterloo?

THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS was thirty years old when William Turner was accepted as an associate member at the age of twenty four, just three years after his first exhibition of oil paintings, which included his first masterpiece,'FISHERMEN AT SEA'.

Turner was in the company of other great artist who,like himself,depended on attracting commissioned work from wealthy patrons,and once having completed the commission, to give satisfaction beyond the patron's expectation.

Considering the very high stakes in commissioned work,it is not surprising that Turner,and other artists, devoted considerable time of the commission to preparatory work,such as sketching,fact research for authenticating details of the painting,and experimentation,something which Turner became famous for.

The most esteemed commission any artist could be awarded was from the reigning monarch,and in Turner's day, at the time of the commission, that would hove been GEORGE IV.

Turner was as keen as any other artist to get a foot in the ROYAL DOOR, but that wasn't to happen until 1822,and it proved to be tougher than any of his other commissioned work or non-commissioned work.Be in no doubt,Turner was money wise, a trait he inherited from his parents,and he knew only too well the value of succeeding in Royal circles.But had Turner's past experience prepared him for such a task?

Sir Joshua Reynolds,president and co-founder of THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, was the greatest influence in Turner's romantic approach to painting landscape.He promoted the IDEALISATION OF THE IMPERFECT in painting a subject, which he referred to as THE GRAND STYLE.Such was Turner's early,and permanent, understanding of how a painting should be executed.In fact, much of his early work before 1830 evoked many of the great artists who had already established romanticism in landscape painting before the nineteenth century.

Turner's ROYAL COMMISSION was to paint a scene depicting the BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, and a romanticist's approach to the subject matter proved to be an indulgence for a work that was going to be judged on accuracy of detail and political statement.

Turner had established his own gallery for displaying his work in front of an invited audience,but such a luxury would not be afforded to him for the first viewing of his completed commission.There was to be no hiding place for short comings,as it was to hang in ST JAMES'S PALACE alongside LOUTHERBOURG'S 'THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE'.

'THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR' was the most important, not to mention the largest oil painting Turner was to undertake, and he spared no effort in gathering specific information, which included borrowing detailed drawings of the victory from the admiralty and, although he already had information from his first painting of THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR AS SEEN FROM THE MIZEN STARBOARD, he also borrowed sketches of the Victory from his friend, marine art Schetky.Turner also produced two large oil sketches of the subject before embarking on the final work.

It's reasonable to assume the mountain of information Turner acquired for the commission would not have caused any problems,but his strategy for the composition did. He rejected the convention of marine painting, in favour of a 'sophisticated interpretation', which was at the heart of Turner fatally flawed commission.And being of a competitive by nature,he also expected his approach would create a painting that would outshine De Loutherbourg's painting.

The painting was complete in 1824 and right from the start Turner's sophisticated interpretation, coupled with lack of concern for chronological detail, offered a message that was misunderstood, and consequently the government and naval experts, who were expecting a literal reading of a great national event, were affronted by it's interpretation.In fact, the painting remained an embarrissment, even after Turner spent eleven days altering the work to meet criticisms.Most of the mistake would only be spotted by naval experts, perhaps with the exception of one; Turner had positioned Victory in the water in accordance with Schetky's sketches, which, unknown to Turner, showed the Victory unladen and higher in the water than it should have been under laden conditions, consequently Turner had to lower the Victory in the water.

It's difficult to imagine Turner not being phased by the experience of failing to succeed in his first Royal Commission.He certainly didn't show any sign of regret when, in characteristic fashion, he brushed the criticisms aside by quoting Michael Angelo who said, when one of his sculptures was criticized for not looking like the subject;"In a thousand years no one will know the difference".And it certainly didn't seem to distract Turner from the customary outpouring of masterpieces.

It was Turner's 'Waterloo' for Royal Commissions, but not for his career.And it would be unwise for critics of Turner to conclude his misguided experience with Royalty proved he wasn't worthy of being considered the greatest landscape painter of the nineteenth century, and the reason why he has been associated with junk art.Such a conclusion couldn't be further from the truth.

The Royal commission only reminded us cf Turner's competitive nature. Knowing his painting of 'THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR' would be hanging alongside 'THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE' by De Loutherbourg, an artist he found inspirational,meant only one thing, he had to outshine him.On this occasion it was a misguided endeavour,but nevertheless,a noble one.

And the SELF PROCLAIMED MOCK AVANT-GARDE artists should be advised not to think they've found a BOND with a GREAT ARTIST who, like themselves, is unconcerned with minor matters like detail, BECAUSE THERE IS NO BOND. Turner produced ten thousand fact finding sketches throughout his career, proving he was devoted to detail. It just so happens, in the case of the Royal commission, they were the wrong details

So, the 'PRIZE', this writer takes issue with, should not stop looking for another name to put a KISS on it's PIG, as the TURNER name is as far from JUNK ART as THE EARTH IS FROM THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE.