A Turner 'resurrected'? The recent restoration by the Clark Art Institute of J.M.W. Turner's Rockets and Blue Lights has aroused fierce controversy. Eric Shanes traces the work's sad history and explains why the true problem it now raises is one of descriptive ethics.

From: Apollo | Date: May 1, 2005| Author: | Copyright information

J.M.W. Turner's oil painting Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to warn Steam-Boats of Shoal-Water (Figs. 2-7) was exhibited by the artist at the Royal Academy in 1840. Because it has recently undergone a radical pictorial transformation, it is fortunate that we possess evidence of its early appearance. This comes in two forms: a chromolithographic reproduction created by Robert Carrick in 1852 (Fig. 1); and a newly-discovered reproduction of a photograph that originally must have been taken sometime between about 1860 and 1880 (Fig. 3). Naturally, these images prove central ...

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