Exclusive Members' Talk – Turner at the Ashmolean

An Exclusive Talk for Members of the Ashmolean
Wed 15 Oct 2025, 3.30pm-4.30pm

The event takes place onsite in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom.

With Timothy Wilcox, writer, curator and lecturer, and a regular contributor to the Ashmolean's events programme.

The Ashmolean Museum has one of the world’s greatest Turner collections, thanks in no small part to the generous donations of John Ruskin in the 19th century. For Ruskin, Turner was the supreme naturalist. Does this view still hold good today? If not, what other motivating forces led Turner to create so many hundreds of paintings, watercolours and prints during a working life spanning some 60 years.

As part of Turner's 250th anniversary year celebrations, Timothy Wilcox's talk will delve into this great artist's legacy and his exploration of nature and natural phenomena, with reference to works in the Ashmolean collections.