Both these paintings share a vision of the mesmerising beauty of the sun. To a large extent they share the same palette – again in an instructively contrasting manner.
Turner - Sunset, after c.1830
Turner’s painting was surely prompted by a direct response to a dramatic sunset – accomplished ‘there and then’, most likely in five minutes, achieving so much with a few brush strokes and a wash - such masterful economy of means. The dark magenta streaks add the pivotal interest, creating a heightened sense of veracity. Hand and eye combine to produce an utterly fresh, spontaneous and memorable image – so apparently ‘simple’ yet founded on a lifetime’s experience.
Tale - October Sun 1997
Tale, with similar experience behind him, likewise takes seemingly effortless advantage of the tremendous power the watercolour medium harbours for pure, spontaneous results - this painting could only be the product of a vastly experienced hand. It is achieved on such a different scale, both in terms of size and, more significantly, in concept because unlike Turner, Tale’s paintings are rarely of a specific scene or topographical.
Here Tale’s watercolour is fundamentally a transcendental vision – a visual metaphor of a state of mind induced by experiences of the natural environment. These mirror the rapture experienced by the artist in the presence of a sensuous yet apocalyptic beauty. As Turner, Tale deploys dark magenta coloured cloud to exhilarating effect – in Tale’s painting it spreads hoveringly above the scene like a closing eyelid - a potent reminder of transience and brevity. JW
Turner - Sunset after c.1830, 24 x 31.5 cm
Tale - October Sun 1996, 102 x 152 cm