Turner - Storm over the Mountains c.1842-3
Storm over the Mountains is one of Turner’s topographical pieces where the drawing was clearly done ‘in situ’ and the colour, largely, added later, as was his general practice on his European itineraries. He perfectly captures the moment of a sweepingly impending storm in the grandeur of a hitherto tranquil Alpine valley – the flurry, the abrupt drop in temperature, the sudden transformation of sensation are all conveyed with stunning skill.
Tale - Mountain Storm II 1997
Tale selects a similar moment in his Mountain Storm – the encroaching envelopment of the landscape by a snowstorm, like a vast blanket, silently snuffing out all before it. Again Tale, in contemporary idiom, distils the recollection of an experience in nature focusing on the thoughts and feelings induced. The painting, as if a visual metaphor echoes a state of mind. Here he succeeds in combining the terror, yet contradicting comfort, of darkness, together with a fear of loss of light and life. Simultaneously he conveys acceptance, understanding of inevitability and the sleep of ages. JW
Turner - Storm over the Mountains c.1842-3, 22.8 x 29.1 cm
Tale - Mountain Storm II 1997, 102 x 152 cm