Turner painting of Donnington to be auctioned, when is a Turner not a Turner? Options

[Andy Capp]

It would seem that Joseph Mallord William Turner, a world famous Romantic landscape painter, painted Donnington Castle. I have never heard of this before. I understand that William Turner of Oxford (a different Turner than the one famous for painting 'The Fighting Temeraire') painted a very similar picture to that listed at Dreweatts.

Are there any art gurus on this forum that could confirm whether the picture is a legitimate JMW Turner, or not? I have a feeling a mistake has been made.


Turner's Donnington Castle painting up at auction



Donnington Castle, taken from a Field adjoining the Road to East Ilsley, from Newbury - by William Turner of Oxford

[Simon Kirby]

I've received a very nice response from the Government Art Collection which I'm sure they won't mind me sharing with you:

Dear Simon

Many thanks for pointing this out - you are of course entirely correct. The lettering states the artist as “W. Turner R.A”, i.e. JMW Turner not Turner of Oxford (he wasn’t an RA). So not the engraver’s error, but rather ours in this case! I will make the appropriate corrections, although it may be a little while before it feeds through to the website.

Best wishes
Roger Golding
Government Art Collection, UK

Andy Capp, I hope there is some possibility of you getting a print of the original, and how cool that, that JMW Turner painted Donnington Castle.