Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on loan
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>
Thames above Waterloo Bridge
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
adults
architecture
bank
boat, barge
boat, steam
bridge
bridges and viaducts
cloud
crowd
England
figure
groups
industrial
industrial society
mist
natural phenomena
people
places
river
River Thames
shot tower
smoke
social comment
society
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK countries and regions
UK London
UK natural features
water: inland
waterfront
Waterloo Bridge
weather
<p>The first steamboat built on the River Thames was constructed in 1832 near Waterloo Bridge. Here two steamboats are moored at Hungerford Pier, belching smoke into air already polluted by industry.Steamboats were not universally welcome on the Thames. Their wash eroded its banks, paddle wheels churned its filthy water, and their traffic competed with livery barges and wherries. Parliamentary committees in 1831 and 1837–8 discussed disputes with the Watermen’s Company. A commission considered urban smoke pollution in 1829. Cholera epidemics beginning in 1831–2 were attributed to ‘miasma’ from contaminated water.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2022</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
15 May 2004 – 16 May 2005
2005-05-16
10 February 2005 – 16 May 2005
2005-05-16
2005-02-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-05-15
Turner Whistler Monet
Exhibition
10 November 2006 – 19 February 2007
2007-02-19
10 November 2006 – 19 February 2007
2007-02-19
2006-11-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-11-10
Norham Castle
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
12 August 2009 – 26 July 2010
2010-07-26
12 August 2009 – 26 July 2010
2010-07-26
2009-08-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-12
Turner on the Thames
Collection based display
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
8 February 2013 – 13 April 2014
2014-04-13
8 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-08
Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia)
http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au
4 June 2013 – 8 September 2013
2013-09-08
2013-06-04
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
8 October 2013 – 18 December 2013
2013-12-18
2013-10-08
Toyko Metropolitan Art Museum (Toyko, Japan)
1 January 2014 – 13 April 2014
2014-04-13
2014-01-01
Kobe City Museum (Kobe, Japan)
2013-02-08
J.M.W. Turner: Makings of a Master
Loan-out
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/
2014-09-10
Late Turner: Painting Set Free
Exhibition
1 March 2015 – 4 September 2016
2016-09-04
1 March 2016 – 4 September 2016
2016-09-04
2016-03-01
The Met Breuer (New York, USA)
2015-03-01
Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible
Loan-out
17 June 2017 – 3 September 2017
2017-09-03
17 June 2017 – 3 September 2017
2017-09-03
2017-06-17
Royal West of England Academy (Bristol, UK)
2017-06-17
Air
Loan-out
28 October 2020 – 10 July 2022
2022-07-10
28 October 2020 – 12 September 2021
2021-09-12
2020-10-28
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
17 October 2021 – 6 February 2022
2022-02-06
2021-10-17
Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, USA)
http://www.kimbellart.org
27 March 2022 – 10 July 2022
2022-07-10
2022-03-27
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, USA)
http://www.mfa.org
2020-10-28
Turner's Modern World
Exhibition
17 October 2021 – 10 July 2022
2022-07-10
17 October 2021 – 6 February 2022
2022-02-06
2021-10-17
Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, USA)
http://www.kimbellart.org
27 March 2022 – 10 July 2022
2022-07-10
2022-03-27
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, USA)
http://www.mfa.org
2021-10-17
Turner's Modern World
Loan-out
10 May 2024 – 8 September 2024
2024-09-08
10 May 2024 – 8 September 2024
2024-09-08
2024-05-10
Laing Art Gallery (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/
2024-05-10
The Fighting Temeraire: Art, Industry and Nostalgia
Loan-out
The Thames above Waterloo Bridge
support: 905 × 1210 mm
frame: 1138 × 1457 × 82 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
<div class="text">
<p>The first steamboat built on the River Thames was constructed in 1832 near Waterloo Bridge. Here two steamboats are moored at Hungerford Pier, belching smoke into air already polluted by industry.<br/>Steamboats were not universally welcome on the Thames. Their wash eroded its banks, paddle wheels churned its filthy water, and their traffic competed with livery barges and wherries. Parliamentary committees in 1831 and 1837–8 discussed disputes with the Watermen’s Company. A commission considered urban smoke pollution in 1829. Cholera epidemics beginning in 1831–2 were attributed to ‘miasma’ from contaminated water.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2022-11-03T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>523. </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-the-thames-above-waterloo-bridge-n01992" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01992</span></a>]<b> The Thames above Waterloo Bridge</b> <i>c.</i>
1830–5</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (1992)</p>
<p>Canvas, 35 5/8 × 47 5/8 (90·5 × 121)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1906.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Venice and Rome 1948 (43); Rotterdam 1955 (60); Edinburgh 1968 (3); R.A. 1974–5 (435).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> MacColl 1920, p. 31.</p>
<p>Datable for stylistic reasons to the early 1830s, it is just possible that this was projected as Turner's answer to Constable's picture of <i>Waterloo Bridge from Whitehall Stairs, June 18th, 1817</i>, exhibited at the R.A. in 1832. The effect of smoke-belching industry contrasts with the sparkling clear atmosphere of the Constable, and a large twin-funnelled steam-boat replaces the royal yacht. The possibility of Turner setting out to rival this particular Constable is reinforced by the incident that took place during the 1832 Varnishing Days, when Turner's <i>Helvoetsluys</i>, a relatively subdued picture, was hung next to Constable's <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> (see No. 345).</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
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults architecture bank boat, barge boat, steam bridge bridges and viaducts cloud crowd England figure groups industrial industrial society mist natural phenomena people places river River Thames shot tower smoke social comment society townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK countries and regions UK London UK natural features waterfront water: inland Waterloo Bridge weather