Bristol Museum launches 1-week campaign to save lost Turner masterpiece painting

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery has launched a bold one-week public fundraising campaign to bring JMW Turner’s only oil painting of Bristol back to the city.

The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol (1792) was painted by the artist when he was just 17 years old.

It shows the Avon Gorge before the Clifton Suspension Bridge was built and was the very first oil he ever exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793, aged just 18.

The painting has recently been rediscovered and will be going on auction on July 2 at Sotheby’s.

The museum has today launched a Crowdfunder to raise £100,000 to purchase the painting. No council funding will be used towards the purchase.

If the bid is successful, the painting will become part of Bristol’s public collection and go on display this summer, becoming a huge pull for the more than 335,000 visitors that come to the museum each year and attracting many more new visitors from further afield.

The museum plans to exhibit the painting to the public as early as August this year, making it accessible to visitors just weeks after the auction before it travelling to Tate Britain for its major exhibition, Turner and Constable in November. It will feature in gallery talks, school programmes, university research, and a wider Turner trail for visitors across Bristol.

Philip Walker, head of culture and creative industries at Bristol City Council, says: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring a lost masterpiece back to Bristol, a painting that connects our city to one of the greatest artists in history at a defining moment in his life.

“Turner painted this scene when he was just 17, inspired by the dramatic beauty of the Avon Gorge. Now, over two centuries later, we have the chance to bring it home where it can belong to everyone. We want this painting to be part of the city’s story, accessible to all and inspiring to future generations.

“We know this is a hugely ambitious fundraising campaign with a ridiculously small window to raise the money, but Bristol is internationally renowned for its art and culture, and we just can’t miss the opportunity to try and go for it. It would be an absolute travesty if Bristol’s lost Turner is sold to a private or overseas buyer.”

The Crowdfunder will officially close at 11.59pm on Tuesday 1st July. To donate go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bringturnerhome

The campaign has so far raised 22% of its goal, with £22,006 donated since the campaign went live at midnight.