Turner Monet Twombly - Tate Liverpool

Yesterday I went to see the Turner Monet Twombly exhibition at the Liverpool Tate and I have to say it was one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have ever been too. All the pieces complimented each other more than I imagined they would, and the amount of influence Turner had on both Monet and Twombly was surprising.

In the first part of the exhibition the two pieces that caught my eye were both Turner's and Twombly's 'Hero and Leandro' - both artists were depicting the same thing but both emitted a different emotion. Turner's work was nostalgic, sad, whereas Twombly's piece felt more alive, more distressing in depicting the tragedy of Hero and Leandro with it's wave like paint strikes and dark colours intertwined with vivid pink.

I never realised how beautiful some of Turner's work was. The faded ages of this work and foggy images feel dream like, or even a little distressing, especially in Peace Burial at Sea, where the painting is dark and faded but the bright spark in the centre of the painting catches your attention...until you realise the depressing story behind it of Turner's friend who died at sea and was subsequently buried at sea.

Whilst Monet is probably one of the better known artists of the three, I didn't find his work as appealing as the others. Obviously his work is iconic and his water lilies are well known all around the world. His impact on the French Impressionist movement is indisputable, but unfortunately it just isn't for me. The colours are muted, the technique is distracting with it's tiny brush strokes almost distorting the image up close. I found the mystery of Turner's work move moving and impressive and the activeness of Twombly's work, the movement, the colour, is incredibly appealing to the eye.

Putting these three artists together though was an amazing idea. I was genuinely engrossed in the exhibition, not even realising anyone was around me or how much time I spent in the exhibition. Sometimes I wouldn't even know what artist I was looking at because they all reflect aspects of each other in their paintings, all are inspired by similar themes and all are beautiful in their different ways.