The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle is displaying J M W Turner’s painting Lowther Castle – Evening. The painting was in family ownership until it was given to the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme administered by Arts Council England. It has been allocated to the Museum following a successful application by Keeper of Fine Art, Emma House and Dr Howard Coutts.
J M W Turner, Lowther Castle – Evening.
This acquisition continues the museum’s tradition of exploring Turner’s work, and follows a series of successful exhibitions at The Bowes Museum featuring his paintings, including the current show Rokeby: Poetry & Landscape; Walter Scott & Turner in Teesdale, which runs until Sunday 28 April.
Lowther Castle – Evening, now on show in the newly refurbished suite of painting galleries, is one of a commissioned contrasting pair, the other of which remains in private ownership. The castle itself, only 40 miles or so from the Museum, was in the process of being built when Turner visited in 1809 to gather sketches of architectural details and drawings of the surrounding landscape, and it was still under construction when the artist exhibited the completed paintings at the Royal Academy in 1810. www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk