Emeritus history of art professor on the new Mr Turner film

David Hill, retired professor of history and art at the University of Leeds, featured recently in the Yorkshire Post following the release of a new film about painter JMW Turner.

Mr Turner shows the painter’s strong links with Yorkshire. In an article written to coincide with the release of the film, Professor David Hill, an expert on JMW Turner, explains Turner’s connection to the region:

‘Apart from his native London, Turner probably visited no other city more often than Leeds. He came here virtually annually from 1797 to the mid 1820’s.

‘His first important patron was Edward Lascelles, son of the First Earl of Harewood. He painted a complete set of pictures at the house, most of which are still there, when he was only 22 in 1797. It was almost his breakthrough commission. He used that as a basis of making a big tour of Yorkshire that year. He painted Kirkstall Abbey on that first visit.

‘He got friendly with a chap called Walter Fawkes, who lived at Farnley Hall at Otley. He visited there every year from 1808 to 1824. They became very close friends and Fawkes bought 250 paintings.

‘He was without doubt the greatest artist Britain has ever produced. In original art in Britain he is the equivalent of Shakespeare in literary art."

The full article appeared in the Yorkshire Post on 8 November 2014 and can be read here.

David Hill retired from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies in November 2014. His research interests at Leeds included Romantic landscape art (particularly the work of JMW Turner and his contemporaries), contemporary landscape, classical sculpture, and contemporary art and the art market. David has written a number of books and articles on Turner, including Turner and Leeds: Image of Industry (2008, Leeds: Jeremy Mills Publishing for Leeds Museums and Galleries).

Abigail Harrison Moore, Head of the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies said:

‘The School celebrated David’s significant contribution to scholarship and education at a party marking his retirement, held in the Brotherton Room, in Special Collections at the University this month. This gave us the opportunity to display a Turner sketch from the University’s Stanley and Audrey Burton Art Gallery, alongside a new work of art by David Walker Barker, selected as a gift to David from all the staff in the School.’

Images:
Harewood House (photo courtesy of the University of Leeds)
Professor David Hill