Student Guide Tour: J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality at Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art presents a special student-led tour of J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality on Saturday, May 17 at 1:00 pm. This exhibition marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of British art.

This is the first Turner-focused exhibition at the Center in over three decades and features a remarkable array of works drawn from the museum’s extensive holdings—the largest collection of Turner’s art outside the United Kingdom. Visitors will experience highlights such as Dort, or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed (1818) and Staffa, Fingal’s Cave (1832), along with a selection of masterful watercolors, prints, and the artist’s only complete sketchbook held outside the British Isles.

The tour is led by Yale undergraduate guides and offers a fresh and thoughtful perspective on Turner’s groundbreaking use of light, color, and atmosphere, as well as his enduring influence on the development of landscape painting.

Yale Center for British Art is located at 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510. This program is free and open to the public. No registration required. For more information, visit britishart.yale.edu.