Turner in Tottenham
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  • JMW Turner
    • The Windus Turner Collection >
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      • The Epicurean
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      • Walter Scott >
        • Abbotsford
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    • Turner collection recreated >
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      • Still framed?
      • The Windus Commissions
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      • Calais sands
      • The Tondos
      • Going to the ball
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    • The Eccentric Mr Turner
    • Talks on Turner in Tottenham
  • PRB
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  • & Others
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      • Tottenham High Cross
      • Rodmell, East Sussex
    • People >
      • EH Baily RA
      • John Constable
      • Rowland Hill
      • William Hobson >
        • Defence of the Realm
      • Luke Howard
      • Priscilla Wakefield
  • Home
    • Background
    • John Ruskin & Windus Collection >
      • Two Turner Collectors; Friends of Ruskin
    • Visitors to the Collection
    • Auctions >
      • Christie's June 1842
      • Christie's June 1853
      • Christie's March 1859
      • Christie's July 1862
      • 1868 Sale after Windus death
    • Images and credits
    • Thanks
  • JMW Turner
    • The Windus Turner Collection >
      • Picturesque views >
        • England and Wales >
          • Charles Heath
          • Carisbrooke Castle
          • Richmond from the moors
          • Straits of Dover
        • Southern Coast >
          • Brighthelmston, Sussex
      • The Epicurean
      • Finden's Lord Byron
      • The Keepsake
      • Walter Scott >
        • Abbotsford
      • Later large watercolours
      • Marine Views (unpublished series)
    • Turner collection recreated >
      • Frames
      • Still framed?
      • The Windus Commissions
    • Turner oil paintings in the Collection >
      • Calais sands
      • The Tondos
      • Going to the ball
      • Later paintings
    • Letters to Windus
    • Turner Bequests: Henry Vaughan
    • Twickenham home
    • The Eccentric Mr Turner
    • Talks on Turner in Tottenham
  • PRB
    • Ford Madox Brown
    • Holman Hunt
    • Millais
    • Rossetti
    • Ruskin and the PRB
  • & Others
    • Blake
    • Frederick Leighton
    • Thomas Girtin
  • BG Windus
    • The Library
    • Family & inheritance >
      • Ansley Windus
      • Thomas Windus
    • Landowner
    • Places >
      • All Hallows
      • Holy Trinity
      • Old Well, Tottenham Green
      • Tottenham High Cross
      • Rodmell, East Sussex
    • People >
      • EH Baily RA
      • John Constable
      • Rowland Hill
      • William Hobson >
        • Defence of the Realm
      • Luke Howard
      • Priscilla Wakefield

Turner Bequest

When J.M.W. Turner died in 1851, he bequeathed "about 300 paintings and 30,000 drawings as well as a large sum of money" to the nation of Great Britain on two conditions: (i) that the works be displayed in a "Turner Gallery" at the National Gallery in London and (ii) that the money be used "for the foundation of an almshouse for elderly artists in the South London suburb of Twickenham."

However, after the artist's death, his descendants were successful in challenging his will on the grounds of the absurd "Mortmain law" of 1736 and, despite the House of Lords' Select Committee holding in 1861 that the conditions had to be fulfilled, Turner's wishes have never been met.

Reuniting J.M.W. Turner's bequest
I feel passionately that for us to have someone like Turner, indisputably one of the greatest landscape artists of the world, and not to implement his will, not to do what he wanted, is tragic and scandalous.

Henry Moore, 1975
Unfortunately gallery directors will fight to keep what they have, even though it is inconvenient to them and against the public good that it should remain where it is.

Lord Clark of Saltwood, 1975

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