About the talk
One of Turner’s most important patrons also became one of his closest friends. Walter Fawkes of Farnley Hall in Yorkshire was a landowner and sometime MP, but also a writer, amateur naturalist and enthusiastic supporter of the arts. Despite being several rungs above Turner on the social ladder the two men bonded over art and animals. Nicola Moorby discusses this interesting partnership including some of the extraordinary watercolours that resulted from the association.
The talk accompanies the new exhibition at Turner’s House, Turner’s Kingdom: Beauty, Birds and Beasts, 23 April – 26 October 2025 and is part of Turner 250, a year long celebration of the artist to mark 250 years since his birth.
About the speaker
Nicola Moorby is Curator of British Art, 1790-1850 at Tate and guest curator of the exhibition, ‘Turner’s Kingdom: Beauty, Birds and Beasts’ at Turner’s House in Twickenham, April-October 2025. Her new book, ‘Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape’ has been published by Yale University Press to coincide with the 250th anniversaries of Turner in 2025 and Constable in 2026.
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