Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
Light and Colour Goethes Theory   Morning after Deluge  Moses Writing Book Genesis
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
abstraction
animals: reptiles
Bible: Old Testament
body
colour
emotions, concepts and ideas
flood
Flood
formal qualities
from recognisable sources
gestural
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - non-specific
head / face
landscape
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
morning
Moses
mysticism
people
prophet
religion and belief
sea
seascapes and coasts
snake
spirit
times of the day
universal religious imagery
weather
<p>Pair to 'Shade and Darkness - The Evening of the Deluge'. This triumphant explosion of light brilliantly exploits the warm side of the spectrum. It celebrates God's Covenant with Man after the Flood. The serpent in the centre represents the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness as a cure for plague. Here it symbolises Christ's redemption of Man in the New Covenant. Turner's verses rather undermine the optimism of the religious message by emphasising the transience of the natural phenomena engendered by the 'returning sun'.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 1992</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
5 August 2002 – 21 May 2007
2007-05-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-08-05
Turner at Tate Britain
Collection based display
1 October 2007 – 21 September 2008
2008-09-21
1 October 2007 – 6 January 2008
2008-01-06
2007-10-01
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 February 2008 – 18 May 2008
2008-05-18
2008-02-10
Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, USA)
http://www.DallasMuseumofArt.org
23 June 2008 – 21 September 2008
2008-09-21
2008-06-23
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA)
http://www.metmuseum.org
2007-10-01
JMW Turner
Tate partnerships & programmes
24 October 2008 – 6 December 2009
2009-12-06
24 October 2008 – 6 December 2009
2009-12-06
2008-10-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2008-10-24
Turner's Eperiments: Colour and Line: Oct Rehang 111
Collection based display
22 February 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
21 September 2009 – 3 January 2010
2010-01-03
2009-09-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-02-22
Turner and the Masters
Loan-out
8 October 2011 – 28 May 2012
2012-05-28
8 October 2011 – 15 January 2012
2012-01-15
2011-10-08
Moderna Museet (Stockholm, Sweden)
11 February 2012 – 28 May 2012
2012-05-28
2012-02-11
Staatsgalerie (Stuttgart, Germany)
http://www.staatsgalerie.de/
2011-10-08
On the Other Side of Air:Later paintings by Turner, Monet, Twombly
Loan-out
8 October 2011 – 28 October 2012
2012-10-28
8 October 2011 – 8 January 2012
2012-01-08
2011-10-08
Moderna Museet (Stockholm, Sweden)
11 February 2012 – 28 May 2012
2012-05-28
2012-02-11
Staatsgalerie (Stuttgart, Germany)
http://www.staatsgalerie.de/
29 June 2012 – 28 October 2012
2012-10-28
2012-06-29
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2011-10-08
Turner Monet Twombly: Later Paintings
Exhibition
10 September 2014 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
10 September 2014 – 25 January 2015
2015-01-25
2014-09-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
24 February 2015 – 24 May 2015
2015-05-24
2015-02-24
J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA)
20 June 2015 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
2015-06-20
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum (San Francisco, USA)
http://www.famsf.org
2014-09-10
Late Turner: Painting Set Free
Exhibition
24 February 2015 – 31 January 2016
2016-01-31
24 February 2015 – 24 May 2015
2015-05-24
2015-02-24
J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA)
20 June 2015 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
2015-06-20
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum
31 October 2015 – 31 January 2016
2016-01-31
2015-10-31
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.ago.net
2015-02-24
Late Turner
Loan-out
1 May 2016 – 8 January 2017
2017-01-08
4 May 2016 – 18 September 2016
2016-09-18
2016-05-04
Caumont Art Centre (Aix-en-Provence, France)
7 October 2016 – 8 January 2017
2017-01-08
2016-10-07
Turner Contemporary (Margate, UK)
2016-05-01
JMW Turner: From Shade and Darkness, to Light and Colour
Loan-out
22 September 2017 – 14 January 2018
2018-01-14
22 September 2017 – 14 January 2018
2018-01-14
2017-09-22
New Art Gallery Walsall (Walsall, UK)
http://www.artatwalsall.org.uk/
2017-09-22
Legacies: JMW Turner and contemporary art practice
Loan-out
6 July 2019 – 2 May 2021
2021-05-02
6 July 2019 – 13 October 2019
2019-10-13
2019-07-06
Kunstmuseum (Luzern, Switzerland)
http://www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch
8 November 2019 – 26 January 2020
2020-01-26
2019-11-08
LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Westfälisches (Munster, Germany)
http://landesmuseum.lwl.org
20 February 2020 – 7 September 2020
2020-09-07
2020-02-20
Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville, USA)
15 October 2020 – 2 May 2021
2021-05-02
2020-10-15
Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Québec, Canada)
http://www.mnba.qc.ca
2019-07-06
The Sea and the Alps: Turner's Quest for the Sublime
Tate partnerships & programmes
8 June 2021 – 14 January 2024
2024-01-14
8 July 2021 – 14 November 2021
2021-11-14
2021-07-08
Museum of Art Pudong (Shanghai, China)
20 December 2021 – 8 May 2022
2022-05-08
2021-12-20
Buk-Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, South Korea)
15 June 2022 – 13 November 2022
2022-11-13
2022-06-15
ACMI (Melbourne, Australia)
25 February 2023 – 25 June 2023
2023-06-25
2023-02-25
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
12 July 2023 – 2 October 2023
2023-10-02
2023-07-12
National Art Center (Tokyo, Japan)
26 October 2023 – 14 January 2024
2024-01-14
2023-10-26
Nakanoshima Museum of Art (Osaka, Japan)
2021-06-08
Light
Tate partnerships & programmes
Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory) - the Morning after the Deluge - Moses Writing the Book of Genesis
support: 787 × 787 mm
frame: 1036 × 1036 × 115 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<p>
Pair to 'Shade and Darkness - The Evening of the Deluge'. This triumphant explosion of light brilliantly exploits the warm side of the spectrum. It celebrates God's Covenant with Man after the Flood. The serpent in the centre represents the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness as a cure for plague. Here it symbolises Christ's redemption of Man in the New Covenant. Turner's verses rather undermine the optimism of the religious message by emphasising the transience of the natural phenomena engendered by the 'returning sun'.
</p>
Display caption
1992-11-06T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>405. </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-light-and-colour-goethes-theory-the-morning-after-the-deluge-moses-writing-the-book-n00532" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00532</span></a>]<b> Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory)-the Morning after the Deluge—Moses writing the Book of Genesis</b> Exh. 1843</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (532)</p>
<p>Canvas, 31×31 (78·5 × 78·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (48, ‘Moses writing the Book of Genesis’ 2'6 1/2" × 2'6 1/2" in diameter); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1905.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> R.A. 1843 (385); Arts Council tour 1952–3 (21); Tate Gallery 1959 (359); New York 1966 (29, repr. in colour p. 41); Dresden (17, repr.) and Berlin (28, colour pl. 18) 1972; R.A. 1974–5 (523); Hamburg 1976 (131 and 157, repr. and colour pl. 19); Hague 1978–9 (xiv, repr. in colour); Paris 1983–4 (73, repr. in colour); Birmingham 1984.</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Thornbury 1862, i, p. 347; 1877, p. 466; Hamerton 1879, p. 295; Bell 1901, pp. 147–8 no. 240; Armstrong 1902, p. 220; Davies 1946, p. 186; Clark 1949, pp. 105–6, 108; Evans and Whitehouse 1956, p. 273; Finberg 1961, pp. 396, 508 no. 554; R.D. Gray, ‘J. M. W. Turner and Goethe's Colour Theory’, <i>German Studies presented to Walter Horace Bruford</i>
1962, pp. 112–16; Herrmann 1963, pp. 35– 6; Kitson 1964, p. 82; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, pp. 70–72; Gowing 1966, pp. 38, 51, repr. in colour p. 41; Lindsay 1966, pp. 212–13; 1966<sup>2</sup>, pp. 52, 55– 6; Gage 1968, p. 685; Gage 1969, pp. 113, 126, 132, 173, 185–8, 190, 194, colour pl. 52; Reynolds 1969, pp. 158, 192–7, colour pl. 163; Holcomb 1970, pp. 27–8, pl. 14; Herrmann 1975, pp. 50–51, 233, colour pl. 150; Russell and Wilton 1976, pp. 18–19; Heffernan 1978, pp. 142–3; Wallace 1979, pp. 113– 14, pl. 15; Wilton 1979, pp. 200–2, 212, colour pl. 232; Wilton 1980, pp. 140–1; Butlin 1981, pp. 43–5; Paulson 1982, pp. 88, 103.</p>
<p>Exhibited in 1843 with the following lines:</p>
<p>‘The ark stood firm on Ararat; th'returning sun<br/>Exhaled earth's humid bubbles, and emulous of light,
<br/>Reflected her lost forms, each in prismatic guise
<br/>Hope's harbinger, ephemeral as the summer fly
<br/>Which rises, flits, expands, and dies.’</p>
<p align="right">—<i>Fallacies of Hope, M.S.</i></p>
<p>A companion to <i>Shade and Darkness—The Evening of the Deluge</i> (No. 404 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shade-and-darkness-the-evening-of-the-deluge-n00531" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00531</span></a>]). The choice of subjects may have been influenced by John Martin's <i>Eve of the Deluge</i> and <i>The Assuagement</i>, exhibited as companions at the R.A. in 1840.</p>
<p>The allusion to Goethe's <i>Fahrbenlehre</i>, of which Turner owned and annotated Eastlake's translation, parallels his allusion to Du Fresnoy in <i>Watteau Study</i> twelve years earlier (No. 340 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-watteau-study-by-fresnoys-rules-n00514" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00514</span></a>]). It refers to Goethe's theory of a colour-circle divided into ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ colours: the former, reds, yellows and greens, were associated by Goethe with gaiety, warmth and happiness, while the latter, blues, blue-greens and purples, were seen as productive of ‘restless, susceptible, anxious impressions’. R.D. Gray has suggested that Turner's opposition between ‘Light and Colour’ on the one hand and ‘Shade and Darkness’ on the other was also a criticism of Goethe's theory that colour was the product equally of Light and Dark: Turner's ‘Dark’ picture he sees as the negation of colour. Gage, however, sees Turner's intention as the restoration of the equality of Light and Dark as values in art and nature. To the sublimity of darkness he added a sublimity of light. But the verses given to <i>Light and Colour</i>, which demonstrates the ‘plus’ colours, make it as pessimistic as <i>Shade and Darkness</i>. Turner transformed the rainbow of the Covenant into scientifically-induced prismatic bubbles, each one an ephemeral harbinger of hope, born to die. In addition the Biblical concordance between Noah's Covenant and that of Moses writing the Book of Genesis apparently on the Tables of the Law, with the Brazen Serpent foreshadowing the Crucifixion before him, must be seen in the light of Turner's constant use of the serpent as a symbol of evil (see Gage 1969, pp. 185–7, for a fuller development of this theory).</p>
<p>Andrew Wilton suggests (1979) the influence on these centrifugal compositions of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/b/baroque" title="Glossary definition for 'Baroque'"><span>baroque</span></a> cupolas Turner must have seen in Rome and Venice. The influence of Turner's own vignette compositions has also been suggested; Wilton points particularly to <i>The Fall of the Rebel Angels</i>, <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/engraving" title="Glossary definition for 'Engraving'"><span>engraved</span></a> by Edward Goodall for <i>Milton's Poetical Works</i>, 1835 (repr. Wilton 1980, p. 141 no. 52), and <i>Sinai's Thunder</i>, engraved by Robert Wallis for <i>Campbell's Poetical Works</i>, 1837 (repr. ibid., p. 142 no. 53).</p>
<p>The critics were universal in their condemnation of these pictures, though the <i>Spectator</i> for 13 May 1843 found them intelligible as illustrations ‘of Goethe's Theory of Light and Colour ... but further we cannot follow the painter. There may be some <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sublime" title="Glossary definition for 'Sublime'"><span>sublime</span></a> meaning in all this ... but ... we see in these two octagon-shaped daubs only two brilliant problems— chromatic harmonies of cool and warm colours.’ The <i>Athenaeum</i> for 17 June as usual regretted ‘Mr. Turner's flagrant abuse of his genius’ but admitted that ‘there is a poetical idea dimly described through the prismatic chaos, which arrests the attention and excites the fancy.’ For the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, 9 May, they ‘are perfectly indescribable, and seem to consist of</p>
<p><u>               </u> atoms casually together hurl'd’.</p>
<p><i>The Times</i> for 11 May called <i>Shade and Darkness</i> a ‘ridiculous daub’ and its companion ‘A wretched mixture of trumpery conceits, involving an anachronism that the meanest scholar at a parish school could rectify.’ <i>Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine</i> for August, spurred by the recent appearance of the first volume of Ruskin's <i>Modern Painters</i>, was even more scathing. From <i>Shade and Darkness</i>, wrote the critic, ‘we learn ... that, on the eve of the mighty Deluge, a Newfoundland dog was chained to a post, lest he should swim to the ark; that a pig had been drinking a bottle of wine ... that men, women, and children (such we suppose they are meant to be) slept a purple sleep, with most gigantic arms round little bodies ...’ and so on.</p>
<p>Both pictures are painted up to the edge of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/canvas" title="Glossary definition for 'Canvas'"><span>canvas</span></a> but were finished, probably in their frames, as octagons, though it seems that Turner may have thought at one time of finishing No. 405 [<span>N00532</span>] as a circle.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction animals: reptiles Bible: Old Testament body colour emotions, concepts and ideas flood Flood formal qualities from recognisable sources gestural Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - non-specific head / face landscape literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) morning Moses mysticism people prophet religion and belief sea seascapes and coasts snake spirit times of the day universal religious imagery weather