Turner: In Light and Shade - Exhibition Catalogue

Exclusive exhibition catalogue to accompany the brand new exhibition Turner: In Light and Shade, on display at the Whitworth from 7 February – 2 November 2025.

J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) remains one of Britain’s most renowned landscape painters whose work continues to inspire generations of artists. This exhibition explores his most remarkable but overlooked series of landscape prints, the Liber Studiorum. Translating as ‘Book of Studies’ and published in fourteen parts from 1807–19, Turner created the series at the height of his fame.

The artist understood that landscape prints could open new audiences and possibilities for his work. The prints were made in collaboration with a new generation of mezzotint engravers, helping to elevate and transform the print medium. In their creation, Turner used topographical studies gathered on his sketching tours across the United Kingdom and Europe. With only nineteen of the published Liber plates based on completed paintings the artist regarded the prints as unique and original works. 

Last presented at the Whitworth over 100 years ago and marking 250 years since his birth, this exhibition presents all seventy-one of Turner’s published prints. Displayed alongside the Whitworth’s most celebrated watercolours, it offers a fresh perspective on Turner. Together they show how the artist’s use of colour and atmospheric effects in painting were reimagined in print using line, tone and negative space.