A fundraising campaign has been launched to bring one of the earliest works by JMW Turner back to the city of Bristol where the artist painted it when he was 17 years old.
The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol, had remained tucked away in private collections since it was last exhibited in Tasmania, Australia, in 1858.
Last year, it was authenticated as a pivotal early work by Turner – after the artist’s signature was discovered during cleaning.
The piece, depicting the Avon Gorge before the Clifton Suspension Bridge was built, was the first oil painting exhibited by Turner at the Royal Academy in 1793 aged just 18.
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is now keen to acquire the work, which is believed to be the only oil painting Turner made of the city.
It has launched a one-week public fundraising campaign, called Bring Turner Home, to raise £100,000 towards the purchase of the painting, which will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s on July 2.
If the bid is successful, the piece will become part of Bristol’s public collection and go on display this summer.
Philip Walker, head of culture and creative industries at Bristol City Council, said: “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 council is believed to be the only public bidder attempting to secure the piece, which has an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000.
Turner painted The Rising Squall during a visit to Bristol in 1792, when he became fascinated by the dramatic scenery of the Avon Gorge.
It is based on an on-the-spot drawing found in Turner’s Bristol and Malmesbury sketchbook, which he used on a tour of the West Country in 1791, and a watercolour the following year.
The piece was bought by the Rev Robert Nixon, an early supporter of Turner who the artist used to stay with.
Early biographies of Turner record that the artist painted his first oil piece in Rev Nixon’s house.
Rev Nixon’s son, the Rev Dr Francis Russell Nixon, Lord Bishop of Tasmania, inherited the painting before it was acquired by the publisher Joseph Hogarth in the early 1860s.
It went up for auction at Christie’s in London in 1864 before going to a private collection in Northamptonshire until it was anonymously sold in April 2024.
During that auction, at Dreweatts in Newbury, the piece was wrongly attributed to “follower of Julius Caesar Ibbetson”, an 18th-century artist.
Restoration work then took place – revealing the signature “W Turner” on the lower left of the canvas.
Until that point, it had been believed that Turner’s earliest exhibited oil painting was a piece known as Fisherman at Sea – which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796.
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery aims to exhibit the piece in as early as August this year, before it travels to Tate Britain for its major exhibition Turner and Constable in November.
A council spokeswoman said: “No council funding will be used to buy the painting.
“Instead, the museum is turning to the people of Bristol and supporters of art and heritage across the country to help raise the funds needed to ensure the painting remains in public ownership, rather than entering a private collection.”
The Crowdfunder page can be found at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bringturnerhome
