The largest and most comprehensive exhibition of works by J.M.W. Turner ever to be presented in Russia has now closed. After delighting audiences at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the exhibition is now set to visit China.

J.M.W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain was unveiled at a ceremony attended by Mme Medvedeva, Russia’s First Lady, and includes 50 oil paintings and 60 works on paper. The exhibition is the result of a partnership between Tate Britain, the Pushkin Museum, the Foundation for Art and Sport (Moscow), and the British Council.

At the beginning of 2008, the Royal Academy hosted one of the greatest exhibitions of art from Russia seen in the UK. From Russia explored the relationship between Russian and European artists of the 19th and early 20th century, and showed how fruitful and inspirational this dialogue can be. 400,000 visitors paid to see the exhibition, one of the largest attendances the Royal Academy has had. With J.M.W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain going to Moscow, we are delighted to continue this dialogue with Russia.

Undoubtedly one of the greatest artists of the Romantic period, Turner (1775 – 1851) was a man of immense intellectual curiosity. His explorations of the natural world have influenced countless generations of artists both in Britain and throughout Europe, and his investigations into the cosmic effects of the sun still reverberate. Even today, scientists are analysing his paintings for the internal evidence they provide on global warming. When Turner was last shown in Moscow, in an exhibition organised by the British Council in 1976, Russian commentors called Turner a ‘radical cultural innovator’. This time, the exhibition was seen as one of the cultural highlights of Moscow’s winter season, and visitors queued round the block to see it.

The conversation with Russia on this exhibition began during a pioneering exhibition on Whistler and Russia organised by the Tretyakov Museum in collaboration with the British Council in 2006. The Foundation for Art and Sport came on board as sponsor of the exhibition and has again been a generous sponsor for J.M.W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain.

The exhibition was shown in the Pushkin Museum’s Marble Hall, and was hung in a in a specially devised installation by one of Russia’s leading theatre designers. On the day after the official opening, the Times ran an article that stated ‘Political relations between Britain and Russia may still be in the deep freeze, but when it comes to culture the countries appear not to have noticed anything amiss and are enjoying a rare boom'. At the opening, Anne Pringle, Britain’s Ambassador to Russia, emphasised the British Council’s role in organising it. She said that exhibitions such as Turner ‘were important manifestations of how much attention both sides give to cultural co-operation'.

J.M.W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain ran from 18 November 2008 until 1 February 2009.

Top left image: JMW Turner - Fishermen at Sea (1796). Tate Gallery, London, UK.