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'Impressions in Watercolour - Turner and his contemporaries' accompanies the exhibition at Towner (23rd October 2025 to 12th April 2026) 

About the exhibition -This year marks 250 years since celebrated English painter and master of watercolour J.M.W. Turner was born. To celebrate his life and work, Towner presents Impressions in Watercolour, a rare opportunity to see some of Turner's finest watercolours from a private collection.

Placing him amongst his notable contemporaries, Impressions in Watercolour showcases Turner at his most experimental and gestural through a selection of his landscape works and seascapes. Contextualising his works alongside those by other 19th century artists, including Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman.  An additional selection of watercolours from Towner’s Collection will be included in the exhibition.

About the book - Curated and introduced by Ian Warrell, the leading expert on Turner, this selection from the fabled Hickman Bacon collection is one of the finest groups of British watercolours in existence, and hardly ever seen or reproduced. Centered around 32 watercolours by Turner, including some of his breathtaking views of the Alps, early views, and late cloud and sea studies, the collection also encompasses some of the greatest works by Turner’s contemporaries: John Sell Cotman, Alexander Cozens, Thomas Girtin, Peter de Wint, John Crome, David Cox and others. Beautifully printed on heavy uncoated paper, with some reproductions life size, this book conveys the intensity and freshness and stupendous virtuosity of these artists whose work in watercolour has never been rivalled. An extended essay by the leading expert and former Tate curator Ian Warrell examines the paintings and gives a vivid picture of the artists who made them.