Tate Britain celebrates Turner’s 250th birthday with new displays in the gallery and across the UK

Tate Britain celebrates the 250th birthday of renowned painter JMW Turner. To mark the anniversary, a new room showcasing his watercolours and drawings opens, part of the gallery’s permanent free display of over 100 works by Turner. As one of the world’s biggest lenders of art, Tate is also bringing over 100 more Turner paintings to museums and galleries across the UK and the globe this year, as well as working with the BBC to bring Turner to TV screens nationwide.

Born on 23 April 1775, JMW Turner is widely considered to be the greatest and most influential British artist of all time. From humble beginnings, he travelled the length and breadth of the country to capture its dramatic scenery, redefining landscape painting in the process. Today he remains a touchstone of British cultural life – the face on the £20 note – and the painter behind some of the most iconic images of the natural world ever created.

Tate holds the world’s greatest collection of Turner’s paintings. To mark the artist’s birthday, a new room has opened today within Tate Britain’s permanent free display of his work. The room showcases some of the artist’s exquisite watercolours and sketches, including the earliest Turner in Tate’s collection, made when he was only 12 years old, as well as a dramatic image of a building on fire, long believed to be the Houses of Parliament but now newly revealed as the Tower of London. The display draws on the latest research developed while preparing a new comprehensive catalogue of Turner’s 37,500 works on paper. Over 20 years in the making, this definitive guide is being completed this year and will be freely accessible on Tate’s website from November, offering a unique insight into the artist’s ideas and methods.

Later this year, Tate Britain will open a new video installation about Turner’s travels across Europe, publish a new introductory video about the artist on the Tate Kids website, and collaborate on a major new BBC documentary about his art and life. The gallery will also stage an international conference to share the latest developments in Turner research, supported by The Manton Foundation Fund for Historic British Art Scholarship. The year of celebrations will culminate in a major new exhibition opening at Tate Britain on 27 November, Turner and Constable, exploring the rivalry between these two great figures of British art history.

Beyond the gallery, Tate is also marking Turner’s birthday with an extensive lending programme. Opening today, a group of Turner’s watercolours of animals, birds and fish from Tate’s collection can be seen as part of a new exhibition at Turner’s House in Twickenham. Visitors to Turner Contemporary can currently enjoy the evocative oil painting Waves Breaking on a Lea Shore at Margate, while in Manchester a selection of works on paper have been loaned to the Whitworth’s current exhibition JMW Turner: In Light and Shade. Tate will soon be lending further Turner works to upcoming exhibitions at Harewood House in Leeds, Petworth House in Sussex, Preston Park Museum in County Durham, and the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle, as well as to major shows across Europe and Asia.

Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain, said “Turner has been a source of wonder, inspiration and joy for over two centuries. Through new scholarship and research, we are constantly discovering fresh stories to tell about his life and his art. In this very special anniversary year, I’m delighted that Tate is enabling millions of people to experience Turner’s work here at Tate Britain, as well as in other museums and galleries across the UK and the world.”

Notes to Editors

To access the full press pack of listings information and press images for Turner 250, visit Tate’s Dropbox.

For press requests, email pressoffice@tate.org.uk or call +44(0)20 7887 8730

Listings information

Details of the Turner 250 programme are publicly accessible at tate.org.uk/turner-250

JMW Turner: Permanent display of over 100 works
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Open daily 10:00-18:00
Admission free

Turner and Constable
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
27 November 2025 – 12 April 2026
Free for Tate Members. £5 for Tate Collective. Tickets available at tate.org.uk
In partnership with LVMH. Supported by the Huo Family Foundation and James Bartos. With additional support from The Turner and Constable Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate Americas Foundation and Tate Members. Research supported by the Manton Historic British Art Scholarship Fund

Turner Unseen: The Secret Life of a Radical Genius
Documentary on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
To be broadcast in 2025, date to be announced

JMW Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours
Complete online catalogue at tate.org.uk
Launching in November 2025
Freely accessible
Supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

JMW Turner: On The Wing
Video installation at Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
30 June 2025 – 31 May 2026
Admission free

Becoming an Artist: JMW Turner
Video on Tate Kids: tate.org.uk/kids and youtube.com/@TateKids
Launching on 19 May 2025
Freely accessible

Exploring Turner’s Legacy
International conference at Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
4-5 December 2025
Supported by the Manton Historic British Art Scholarship Fund. Delivered in partnership with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

About Tate Britain

Tate Britian is home to the world’s greatest collection of British art. The gallery’s free displays feature over 800 works by over 350 artists, telling an expansive and diverse story which spans from the 1500s to the present day. Tate Britain welcomes over a million visitors each year to its ever-changing programme of exhibitions, commissions and events. It celebrates key figures in art history and provides a vital platform for the best artists working in Briain today, including through the Turner Prize, Art Now and the Tate Britian Commission. For more information visit tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain