When he died, the celebrated British landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) left an extraordinary legacy of his works to the British nation. It included nearly 300 oil paintings and around 30,000 sketches and watercolours – the largest ever donation to the National Gallery. Most of these are now held in the collection of Tate Britain.
Turner gave two of his works on the condition that they would be displayed beside two specific works by the French painter Claude (1600–1682), whom Turner deeply admired. Both artists were fascinated by landscape and subtle, shifting light effects. Turner wanted to ensure a lasting dialogue between his own paintings and Claude’s that had inspired him.
