Turner and Constable at Tate Britain. Picture credit: © Tate Photography Yili Liu
Tate Britain is currently holding an exhibition celebrating the works of two of Britain’s most successful artists, JMW Turner and John Constable, 250 years on from their births.
About
Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals explores the contrasting works of Georgian painters Turner and Constable through over 170 pieces. Contemporary art critics described their works as a clash of ‘fire and water’. Whilst both landscape artists, their subjects and styles greatly differed. Turner’s painterly style perfectly captured atmosphere and light whilst Constable had a masterly attention to detail in his pastoral scenes.
Tate Britain explains: “Creators of some of the most daring and captivating works in the history of British art, Turner and Constable changed the face of landscape painting with their two competing visions, elevating the genre with their recognition of its endless potential to inspire.”
Highlights of this major exhibition include Turner’s The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835) – shown in Britain for the first time in over a century, and Constable’s lauded The White Horse (1819). Constable’s painting box and sketching chair are also on display.
The exhibition runs until 12 April 2026.
Getting there
Tate Britain can be reached from Hertford Street by taking the Victoria line from Green Park to Pimlico.