TURNER AT THE ASHMOLEAN: A 250TH BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

Wed 15 Oct 2025, 3.30-4.30pm

At the Museum and Online

An Exclusive Talk for Members of the Ashmolean

This event takes place onsite in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom

Onsite tickets are £15, online tickets are £10. Booking is essential.

Tickets coming soon

With Timothy Wilcox, writer, curator & lecturer, and a regular contributor to the Ashmolean's events programme

The Ashmolean Museum has one of the world’s greatest Turner collections, thanks in no small part to the generous donations of John Ruskin in the 19th century. For Ruskin, Turner was the supreme naturalist. Does this view still hold good today? If not, what other motivating forces led Turner to create so many hundreds of paintings, watercolours and prints during a working life spanning some 60 years.

Atmospheric watercolour & drawing by Turner of Nantes harbour

Nantes: Pont Pirmil, J.M.W. Turner, c.1820, watercolour with bodycolour & pen & brown ink © Ashmolean Museum

Study of a group of cows watercolour by J.M.W. Turner, c. 1791

Study of a Group of Cows, J.M.W. Turner, c. 1791 watercolour over graphite, with some scratching out, on wove paper © Ashmolean Museum

As part of Turner's 250th anniversary year celebrations, Timothy Wilcox's talk will delve into this great artist's legacy and his exploration of nature and natural phenomena, with reference to works in the Ashmolean collections.