DISQUS

Happy Birthday Chris...You don't look a day over 16. Enjoy!

As a young artist I studied Turner’s techniques. He was the master of composing using the spiral as well as using colors that were out of the ordinary for the time. It’s been some time since I’ve seen his work. I went to the Turner exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and realized it is more than a feast for the eyes it’s a sensory experience. If you close your eyes can hear the storm, smell and taste the salty air and be engulfed by the coolness of the waves. You are truly there in the middle of the drama that he creates to give us an idea of what was going on at that point in history.

Tom as you talk about the coal fed ships I exactly which Turner you are describing. You can almost sense the crewmen gagging as the smoke fills the ship and smell the coal as it burns.

As I walked through the crowded exhibit I noticed sound of the visitors in each room would change. With Turner’s large dramatic epic ocean scene in which you could hear the spray of the water and angry storm above though uncertain which was storm and sea I could also hear a lot of discussion among the viewers. I moved though his more “serene” works the room was almost still expect for the shuffle of viewers feet across the floor.

I wondered did Turner inspire music or were classical musicians of the time inspired by Tunner?