Turner and Constable: at Tate Britain the landmark exhibition tracing two parallel lives

This autumn, Tate Britain presents an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to the two giants of British landscape painting: J.M.W. Turner and John Constable.

JMW Turner,The Burning of the Houses ofLords and Commons, 16October 1834,1835. Cleveland Museum of Art. Bequest of John L.Severance 1942.647

The show—the first to deeply explore their intertwined lives, contrasts, and mutual influences—celebrates the 250th anniversary of their births and brings together over 170 works, including paintings and works on paper, many of which have rarely been shown in the UK.

Born just one year apart—Turner in bustling London and Constable in the rural quiet of Suffolk—the two artists followed radically different paths. Turner was an early prodigy: he exhibited at the Royal Academy at just 15 and created ambitious works such as The Rising Squall before turning eighteen. Constable, slower and more meditative, shaped his training as a largely self-taught painter, travelling and studying the skies and landscapes of his homeland. Yet the two shared a common goal: to revolutionise landscape painting, transforming it into a genre capable of moving, narrating, and innovating.

The exhibition traces the parallel development of their artistic identities: on one side, Turner’s sublime energy, drawing inspiration from travel sketchbooks to craft visionary Alpine scenes, stormy seas, and daring luminous inventions; on the other, Constable’s precision, rooted in the belief that the sky was the soul of the landscape—studied with almost scientific dedication. For the occasion, Tate brings together a rare group of his celebrated cloud studies, today considered among the most poetic achievements of 19th-century British art.

John Constable,Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, c. 1829. Imagecourtesy of Tate

The dialogue between the two culminates in the 1830s, when critics began systematically opposing them, defining them as “fire and water.” One iconic moment was in 1831, when Constable exhibited his Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows beside Turner’s Caligula’s Palace and Bridge: a striking confrontation of atmospheres, poetics, and worldviews, now revived at Tate with the same intensity.

Among the masterpieces on display are Turner’s The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835), not exhibited in Britain for over a century, and Constable’s The White Horse (1819), one of his greatest achievements. These works testify to how both artists—though in opposite ways—expanded the boundaries of landscape painting, elevating it to the scale of grand ambition and profound artistic inquiry.

JMW Turner, The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire,exh.1817. Imagecourtesy of Tate.

The exhibition concludes with a film featuring contemporary artists—including Bridget Riley and Frank Bowling—reflecting on the enduring legacy of Turner and Constable. A living, powerful legacy that continues to influence the way we look at nature, light, and landscape.

Tate Britain

Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

Date

27 novembre – 12 aprile 2026