The life of Joseph Mallord William Turner,
one of England’s greatest Romanticist artists and master of watercolour
landscape painting, has been well and truly investigated and analysed over the
years.
J.M.W Turner (self-portrait circa 1799) Tate Gallery
Nobody, however, except perhaps the American
biographer John Anderson in The Unknown
Turner of 1926, has ever mentioned that Turner may have visited the Canary
Islands or even sketched one of the colourful and still unspoilt scenery in the
islands of the 19th century. Consequently it is now only local
historians, researching in depth about foreign and famous travellers to the
Canary Islands, who find themselves tempted to clutch at any evidence that
Turner actually came to the islands.
William Turner was constantly on the move
and spent his very early days wandering all over England in the footsteps of
his friend and fellow painter Paul Sandby. He also travelled in Europe, first
to France and Switzerland and then, in 1819, to Italy and Venice where sunlight
began to have a magic effect in his works. He later visited the Mediterranean
islands of Corsica and the Balearics. He also spent time in mainland Spain during the 1840s where he sketched the Roman
aqueduct in Segovia and the castle in Madrid, both of which are kept at The
Metropolitan Museum of New York. Wherever he travelled Turner sketched and took
detailed notes which he would eventually use in his customary studio-bound
painting. John Anderson accounted for over 40,000 oil paintings, watercolours
and sketches although some art historians suggest Anderson was not precise
enough and therefore prone to exaggerate. In 1845 he travelled to Algiers and
Gibraltar as well as to Madeira and the Canary Islands.
If he was indeed so prolific one would assume
that, like so many British visitors and artists to the Canary Islands in the 19th
century, Turner would have captured some of the islands’ unique landscapes.
Unfortunately there is no apparent record of any work carried out here although
one or two analysts believe there must be something hiding somewhere and that
he did sketch a scene from out at sea looking across the bay towards Santa Cruz
in Tenerife, perhaps with Mount Teide in the distance.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife with Mt. Teide in the background (Le Monde Illustré, 1860) - not Turner's
The reason for his
apparent inactivity during his travels to the Canary Islands or even that he might
not even have stepped ashore, is perhaps because he came to the islands as an
old man in declining health.
Sir James Clark (1788-1870) - unknown artist
In fact it is believed he sailed to the
Canary Islands precisely for health reasons, following the documented advice of
famous physicians like Sir James Clark of Cullen in Banffshire who recommended
the climate in Tenerife. In his 1829 work The Influence of Climate in the Prevention and
Cure of Chronic Diseases, more particularly of the Chest and Digestive Organs, Clark was especially complementary
of the Orotava Valley and Vilaflor, remarking upon their peacefulness and
clean, healthy air.
Vilaflor in the 19th century (courtesy blog Octavio Rodriguez Delgado)
Nevertheless, artistic imagination does
tempt one to wish that William Turner might have at least dreamed of painting
just one of Tenerife’s sunsets from the rocky, volcanic northern coast, perhaps
in Puerto de la Cruz. John Whitford, who published The Canary Islands as a Winter Resort in
1890 certainly did. He compared the sundown colours of the Orotava Valley to the
same marvellous golden colours found
in William Turner’s paintings.
Marcos Baeza - private collection - Puerto de la Cruz
(Certain images have been reproduced from internet with no personal financial gain intended.)
By John Reid Young
Author of The Skipping Verger and Other Tales, a collection of short stories set in Tenerife.
