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Tate Britain Exhibition

J.M.W. Turner: The Three Rigis

22 January – 25 March 2007

Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Blue Rigi, Sunrise 1842. Tate.

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Red Rigi 1842

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Red Rigi 1842

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Dark Rigi 1842

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Dark Rigi 1842

Tate brings together for the first time ever three of J.M.W. Turner’s very greatest watercolour paintings: The Blue Rigi, The Dark Rigi and The Red Rigi.

Turner’s groundbreaking use of watercolour, which spanned his career, culminated in the early 1840s with a series of transcendent views of Swiss lakes and mountains. Chief among these are the three views of Mount Rigi as seen from Lake Lucerne. Each shows the mountain at a different time of day and is characterised by a defining colour or tone: dark, blue or red.

The Blue Rigi was Turner's first attempt at recording the moment before dawn when the sun just perceptibly begins to chase away the cool darkness of night. Using subtly modulated washes of blue, Turner recreates the stillness and wonder of this instant, anticipating by many years the unified tonal approach to image-making of the Aesthetic Movement.

Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Blue Rigi, Sunrise (1842)
Tate

Tate Britain

Millbank
London SW1P 4RG
Plan your visit

Dates

22 January – 25 March 2007

Find out more

  • BP Summer Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolours

    Dazzling, evocative and sublime, this exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see some of J.M.W. Turner's most spectacular works.

  • Drawing from Turner

    Drawing From Turner is a collaborative project and exhibition jointly organised by Tate Britain and the University of the Arts London.

  • Norham Castle, Sunrise: from incomprehension to icon

    Norham Castle, Sunrise: from incomprehension to icon: past Tate Britain exhibition

  • Light into Colour: Turner in the South West

    Light into Colour: Turner in the South West; past exhibition at Tate St Ives

  • Turner Whistler Monet banner

    Turner Whistler Monet

    J.M.W. Turner, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Claude Monet each changed the course of landscape painting and this exhibition at Tate Britain traces the artistic dialogue between them.

  • Vanishing Point: The Perspective Drawings of JMW Turner

    Vanishing Point: The Perspective Drawings of JMW Turner: Press related to past exhibition.

  • Sheila Hancock takes an exclusive look at Turner's 'Blue Rigi'

    Simon Grant1

    Having recently finished filming a series for the BBC on watercolour and travel, actress Sheila Hancock is invigorated by what she regards as the often underestimated medium of watercolour.

  • Artist

    Joseph Mallord William Turner

    1775–1851
  • Turner Worldwide

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  • Artwork

    The Blue Rigi, Sunrise

    Joseph Mallord William Turner
    1842
  • Artwork

    The Red Rigi: Sample Study

    Joseph Mallord William Turner
    c.1841–2
    View by appointment
  • Artwork

    The Dark Rigi: Sample Study

    Joseph Mallord William Turner
    c.1841–2
    View by appointment
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