Lectures at the MFA - Turner, Forerunner

The painter J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) embraced the great issues of his day more than any of his contemporaries. He was not only an artist of his time, but in many ways ahead of his time. His radical approach to painterly handling—both in oils and watercolor—anticipates by several decades the loose brushwork of the French Impressionists and by a century the expressive strokes of the Abstract Expressionists. Frederick Ilchman explores what makes Turner modern and the artist’s influence on later generations. Frederick Ilchman, Mrs. Russell W. Baker Curator of Paintings and chair, Art of Europe. Sunday, May 22, 2022 Robert J. Boardingham Memorial Lecture Presented with the support of Scott and Isabelle Black.