Sotheby's to Sell a Masterpiece by J.M.W. Turner - January 2009 Sotheby’s to Sell J.M.W. Turner’s Masterpiece,
The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius - January 2009
News-Antique.com - Oct 29,2008 - Painting is from the Private Collection of Richard L. Feigen
And will be Offered for Sale in New York on January 29, 2009
-- On View in New York from October 29-November 3, 2008
--
New York, NY – On January 29, 2009, Sotheby’s New York will offer a magnificent work by Joseph Mallord William
Turner, The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius – one of the most important oil paintings by the artist remaining in private
hands. The work, estimated to bring $12/16 million*, has been in the private collection of prominent fine art dealer
Richard L. Feigen for over twenty-five years, and was a highlight of the retrospective of the work of JMW Turner RA
presented in 2008 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The National Gallery of Art in Washington,
D.C., and the Dallas Museum of Art. The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius, will be on view at Sotheby’s New York
October 29 through November 3, followed by exhibitions in London, Paris and Los Angeles (for full schedule see p. 3).
George Wachter, Vice Chairman and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department Worldwide said,
“This work is one of the most significant paintings by Turner to come on to the market in many years. It is remarkable
not only for its magnificent beauty, but also for its scale, fantastic state of presentation and distinguished history. Here,
Turner takes inspiration from Claude, but makes his own statement on the times Europe was enjoying – free from
Napoleon’s domination.”
The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius is one of only three oil landscapes concerned with ancient Greece painted by
Turner, and is one of less than twenty significant paintings by the artist still held in private hands. First exhibited in 1816,
when Turner was at the height of his popularity as a British landscape painter, the canvas was paired with an early 19th
century depiction of the same scene illustrating the temple in ruin and was received with great acclaim. In this painting
Turner skillfully indulges his passion for painting landscapes enlivened with historical significance. The picture depicts
figures rejoicing in the foreground against a rising sun and the Temple to Jupiter Panellenius – approximately translated
as Jupiter the God of all Greeks and located on the island of Aegina. Jupiter was also known as the bringer of light and
the patron of communal life, and in the sunlight-infused picture Turner depicts a romanticized vision of dawn
enveloping an ancient, heroic and free civilization.
The painting is however more than a simple homage to ancient Greek civilization, which Turner thought to be “the most
brilliant period of human nature,” and marks the beginning of the artist’s depictions of the rise and fall of civilization
which would dominate his work for the next twenty years. The canvas also touches on poignant issues of the period in
which it was completed. Turner painted during a time of heightened sensitivity to the protection of ancient Greek
artifacts and supported his contemporaries’ efforts to
