JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER

Joseph Mallord William TurnerPeace - Burial at Sea exhibited 1842

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Peace - Burial at Sea exhibited 1842

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Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Peace - Burial at Sea

Dateexhibited 1842

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 870 x 867 mm

Collection

Tate

AcquisitionAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

N00528

On loan to Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia)

Display caption

Peace shows the burial at sea of Turner’s friend, the artist David Wilkie. The cool palette and saturated blacks create a striking contrast to its pair, War, hung alongside, and convey the calm of Wilkie’s dignified death, compared to Napoleon’s disgrace. The two titles War and Peace are illustrated as abstract concepts, via tone and colour, rather than as actual events. Both works were roundly criticised at the time for their lack of finishing.