#jmw-turner

#jmw-turner

The hook for Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks is meant to be that many of the 37,000 sketches left behind by the great British painter JMW Turner have rarely been seen and never been filmed; therein may be hints at the nuances of his elusive character that his main oeuvre kept hidden. Equally remarkable, though, is the documentary's bold choice of contributors. As well as the art historians and present-day British artists who would dominate a standard art film, there are famous laymen, from the obviously somewhat qualified Timothy Spall played the artist in Mike Leigh's biographical film Mr Turner; Chris Packham is well placed to comment on Turner's reverence for the natural world to the more surprising hire of Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones.

Visitors to a major JMW Turner exhibition may well be surprised to see the opening work is by Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst sharks, a Bridget Riley stripe painting and some Doc Marten boots supplied by the curator herself are also on display. Surprised? That's what we're hoping, said Melissa Gustin, the curator of British art at National Museums Liverpool. But by the end it will all make perfect sense, she hopes. That is the vibe we are after.

Nelson's flagship, Victory, looms larger than life at the centre of the composition, symbolising British naval supremacy rather than the precise realities of combat. Across its rigging, the signal flags spell out the final three letters of "duty", a deliberate nod both to Nelson's immortal command - "England expects every man to do his duty" - and his dying words: "Thank God I have done my duty."