Turner and Constable Deserve Better

Turner and Constable are two giants of British art, revered internationally. Two masters, who as 18/19 Century contemporaries, dazzled the world with stunning countryside and water scenes, glorious colours and much else. People flock to see their paintings wherever they are on show. Heavyweights of art, they are massive draws even for those who are relatively indifferent to painting.

So, put the two together in a big, glitzy exhibition top billing their rivalry in their lifetimes and you can’t go wrong. Any gallery would be on to a sure-fire winner. Roll up, roll up and see Turner and Constable take each other on. Watch as they deal blow after oil and watercolour blow. Winner takes… well all I suppose.

Introducing Turner/ Constable at London’s Tate Britain - the show that delivered all that. Throughout its run, which has just ended, the gallery was been packed to the rafters with punters eager to see the monster battle.

Except that they didn’t quite deliver…

I love Turner and Constable as the world does. Turner, especially, for me is one of my very favourite artists and I try to see his works on a regular basis. Such a genius. Yet, Constable has always been special too and his works left a great impression me as a boy. So, knowing quite a lot about their lives and works, I was eager to see the Tate’s exhibition, learn more about their rivalry and add a new dimension to my understanding of both artists.

And, while I greatly enjoyed the paintings on display, who wouldn’t, for me the exhibition markedly failed to give any new insight, including on their rivalry.  You can’t just shove a load of Turners in with a load of Constables, stir them around a bit and call it in Tate’s words… ‘The definitive exhibition of two pivotal British artists in the 250th year of their births’.

The exhibition will have been a huge success, thousands upon thousands will have loved it I am sure, but instead of pushing boundaries, Tate Britain basically lumped pictures from both artists together expecting something uniquely magical to happen. And it didn’t.

If this was the definitive exhibition, then where were some of their greatest works - Constable’s The Hay Wain or Turner’s Fighting Temeraire for starters?

This was a great opportunity missed by Tate Britain. Turner and Constable deserved better.

Turner / Constable at the Britain closed yesterday (12 April 2026)