Turner exhibition unveiled in Margate

A large exhibition dedicated to the English painter JMW Turner will open in Margate tomorrow. 95 of Turner's works will be on show at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate under the exhibition title: Turner and the Elements. The exhibition has been specially curated by Inés Richter-Musso and Ortrud Westheider, to represent Turner's paintings of Margate and the Kent coastline, where he regularly visited throughout his life. It focuses on the theme of the elements in his work and is divided into five sections – earth, water, air, fire and fusion. The extraordinary painting Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth (see above) will also be on show. Turner famously claimed that he lashed himself to a mast to experience the turmoil of the storm first hand. Telegraph art critic Alastair Sooke said of the exhibition: "Kent should prove the perfect setting: the Romantic genius once asserted that the loveliest skies in Europe could be found “in the Isle of Thanet”." Turner Contemporary director Victoria Pomery said: "It brings together more than 80 works featuring places in the UK and Europe with a section dedicated to Margate and the north Kent coast, demonstrating the special relationship he had with this area." Designed by David Chipperfield, the Turner Contemporary Gallery opened in April last year and cost 17 million pounds to build. The building has been erected on the site of the former guesthouse Turner often stayed in.