Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) remains one of the most influential artists in history, revolutionizing landscape painting as a genre. His expressive brushwork laid the groundwork for the development of modernism, and he was among a group of artists who turned watercolor into a standalone art form (not to mention he was the subject of a 2014 biopic starring Timothy Spall). Turner was a Londoner who traveled widely across the United Kingdom and Continental Europe to capture exciting new landscapes, wowed patrons with daring brushwork, received accolades for his large oil paintings, and earned a large part of his living making watercolors on commission. He’s considered by many to be Britain’s most important artist, and his estate of over 32,000 paintings, drawings, and ephemera are proudly held by Tate Britain.

This year, in honor of the artist’s 250th birthday, Tate Britain is spearheading Turner 250, a year of special exhibitions and events celebrating Turner’s contributions to art history. Museums from Shangai to Dublin will be presenting the best of Turner, and here at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields we are joining the celebration. In addition to lending two artworks to the Tate’s exhibition, we are bringing back out on view some of the most beloved artworks in the IMA’s collection: our own Turner watercolors.

An Indianapolis Story

Even other curators are surprised to hear that the IMA has one of the largest collections anywhere of Turner works on paper, with 38 watercolors and drawings forming the heart of the collection. The museum’s first watercolors and drawings by Turner were purchased in 1913, but most of our collection of works by him came to us from the Indianapolis attorney Kurt Pantzer, who passionately collected Turner drawings, watercolors, over 3,000 prints, numerous letters, and a library of over 500 volumes. In 1972 he generously transferred his collection to the IMA, where three galleries on the second floor of the Clowes Pavilion had been dedicated to exhibiting it. Over the decades, the IMA regularly rotated installations in those galleries, with the last ones in 2016 and 2017. After that, we began applying a more standard exhibition process and model to our Turner watercolors, even as we still regularly get queries about when they’ll next be on view. We opened Journey into Light: Travels with J.M.W. Turner, a mix of prints and watercolors addressing Turner’s prolific work illustrating travel books, in 2020.

This year, for Luminous Horizons, we are reprising most of the 2016 exhibition to show his development as a watercolorist throughout his entire career. The 17 Turner watercolors and drawings in the exhibition are accompanied by 10 works by some of his influential peers who contributed to the rise of watercolor. Make sure to take the time to stop by (a few times!) during the run of the show, take a closer look at these works with the magnifying sheets on offer, and enjoy some of the most exceptional gems in our collection.

On view in the Susan and Charles Golden Gallery, September 20, 2025 to January 4, 2026