ART & CULTURE
A tour of Turner’s house in Twickenham
After a £2.4 million restoration project, Turner’s House in Twickenham is now open to the public. Regarded as one of the greatest British painters of all time, J. M. W. Turner was a born and bred Londoner and child prodigy. He was enrolled in the Royal Academy at 14, becoming one of the most influential landscape painters in history.
THE STORY OF TURNER’S HOUSE
In 1807, Turner bought some land in rural Twickenham and designed and built a house on this site for himself and his eld- erly father. It was finished by 1813. Tough he already had homes and studio space in Cheyne Walk and Marylebone, this was intended as a retreat, somewhere he could sketch but, more importantly, relax in nature. Te original plot was in fact far larger, around the length of 3 foot- ball pitches, and it allowed Turner to exer- cise another passion. Tough world-famous as a painter,
Turner trained as an architectural drafts- man – during the early 1790s this was how you learned to draw – and he retained this fascination with architecture through his life. Troughout the design process he was influenced by his contemporary and friend, Sir John Soane. Tis can be seen in the curvature of the line and pattern de- tails of the brickwork. If you’ve ever visited
30 FOCUS The Magazine March/April 2020
Sir John Soane’s museum, you can keenly feel the influence inside.
INSIDE TURNER’S HOUSE
Te restoration is remarkable. It retains the feel of an early 19th century home, despite the fact most objects are sourced rather than original. Te last owner of the home was Professor Harold Livermore. He was clearly a generous man because fa- mously, “he offered his house to the na- tion, but the nation didn’t want it” Tankfully he wasn’t deterred and man- aged to secure Grade II* listing for the house in the 1950s. Today it’s owned by the Turner’s House Trust. Extraordinary care was taken to source contemporary antique furniture that befitted the house. Tough an inventory wasn’t available of Turner’s belongings, inventories from his other properties and records from visitors were used to best reflect what it would’ve been like.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR TOUR
As is often the case in homes-turned-mu- seums, it’s the little details that stick in your mind, here are a few of these little nuggets. We know from a visitor’s letter that
Turner kept ships models on display in his parlour. Te originals are in the Tate, but the replicas in the house now were spe- cially made. Turner would sketch these in preparation for his paintings like the fa- mous ‘Fighting Temeraire’ (1838). One architectural feature that always
stands out is a sweeping staircase. Tough it’s not as grand as others, I couldn’t help feeling mesmerised. Naturally I looked up and spotted an original lay light, designed by Turner to flood the staircase with light. Other interior design elements were the painted faux-marble walls. Te image here shows how they found a clue to this design under previous layers of wallpaper. Wallpaper was another area of Turner’s
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