The first major exhibition of J.M.W. Turner works will open at The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing in April, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on 2 February at the UK-China Summit. This exhibition is the result of a partnership between the British Council, Tate and NAMOC.

J. M. W. Turner’s Self-portrait

J.M.W Turner (1775 – 1851) is considered to be one of the greatest painters Britain has ever produced. He was the leading British artist of his era, who raised the status of landscape painting to an unprecedented level. Tate will loan 112 major works, all of which are oil paintings and works on paper, to China. J. M. W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain will be the first comprehensive exhibition of Turner’s works to be shown in China. The works will come predominantly from the Turner Bequest. The show will feature Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps 1812, one of Turner’s finest achievements, and The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire. It will also include some of his most celebrated later canvases, most notably the oil, Norham Castle, Sunrise circa 1845.

Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (Exhibited 1817)

The project follows closely on the heels of the J. M. W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours from Tate Britain at the Pushkin Museum, Moscow – another Tate and British Council collaboration which was named ‘the exhibition of the year’ by Russian critics and to date has received over 100,000 visitors.