Oil paint on mahogany
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>
Moonlight a at Millbank
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
architecture
astronomy
bank
boat, sailing
England
Millbank - non-specific
moon
night
pier
places
river
River Thames
society
star
times of the day
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK countries and regions
UK London
UK natural features
water: inland
<p>Turner painted this work of the Thames at night from a position near that of Tate Britain. It dates from the year after Turner showed his first oil painting at the Royal Academy, also a marine night painting (or nocturne). It was fashionable to show moonlight effects in pictures at this time. They were mostly based on Dutch 17th-century painters like Aert van der Neer, then popular with British collectors. Unlike those highly stylised paintings, here the impression is naturalistic.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2020</em></p>
painting oil paint mahogany
23 July 2001 – 16 June 2002
2002-06-16
23 July 2001 – 16 June 2002
2002-06-16
2001-07-23
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-07-23
Painting Seascapes
Collection based display
24 October 2003 – 25 January 2004
2004-01-25
24 October 2003 – 25 January 2004
2004-01-25
2003-10-24
Barber Institute of Fine Arts (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.barber.org.uk
2003-10-24
J.M.W Turner: The Sun Rising Through Vapour
Loan-out
15 May 2004 – 16 May 2005
2005-05-16
15 May 2004 – 5 September 2004
2004-09-05
2004-05-15
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.ago.net
16 October 2004 – 16 January 2005
2005-01-16
2004-10-16
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
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
20 January 2006 – 23 April 2006
2006-04-23
20 January 2006 – 23 April 2006
2006-04-23
2006-01-20
Barber Institute of Fine Arts (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.barber.org.uk
2006-01-20
Moonlight over Europe: Dahl's 'Mother and Child by the Sea'
Loan-out
21 September 2009 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
21 September 2009 – 24 January 2010
2010-01-24
2009-09-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
22 February 2010 – 23 May 2010
2010-05-23
2010-02-22
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
21 June 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
2010-06-21
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
2009-09-21
Turner and the Masters
Exhibition
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/
22 February 2010 – 23 May 2010
2010-05-23
2010-02-22
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
21 June 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
2010-06-21
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
2010-02-22
Turner and the Masters
Loan-out
14 April 2012 – 9 February 2020
2020-02-09
14 April 2012 – 9 February 2020
2020-02-09
2012-04-14
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-04-14
Clore Introduction: Ambition and Legacy
Collection based display
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
1 September 2020 – 20 November 2022
2022-11-20
1 September 2020
2020-09-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-09-01
Clore 103
Collection based display
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
2023-10-28
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich, Germany)
2023-10-28
Turner at Lenbachhaus Munich
Loan-out
6 July 2024 – 15 January 2028
2028-01-15
6 July 2024 – 1 September 2024
2024-09-01
2024-07-06
Grimaldi Forum (Monaco, Monaco)
30 September 2024 – 7 May 2025
2025-05-07
2024-09-30
Museum of Art Pudong (Shanghai, China)
21 June 2025 – 5 October 2025
2025-10-05
2025-06-21
Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane, Australia)
2024-07-06
Turner's Sublime Legacy
Tate partnerships & programmes
Moonlight, a Study at Millbank
support: 314 × 403 mm
frame: 507 × 603 × 112 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>Turner painted this work of the Thames at night from a position near that of Tate Britain. It dates from the year after Turner showed his first oil painting at the Royal Academy, also a marine night painting (or nocturne). It was fashionable to show moonlight effects in pictures at this time. They were mostly based on Dutch 17th-century painters like Aert van der Neer, then popular with British collectors. Unlike those highly stylised paintings, here the impression is naturalistic.  </p>
</div>

Display caption
2020-07-01T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>2.</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-moonlight-a-study-at-millbank-n00459" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00459</span></a>]  <b>Moonlight, a Study at Millbank</b> Exh. 1797
<br/>
<br/>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (459)
<br/>Mahogany, 12 3/8 × 15 7/8 (31·5 × 40·5).
<br/><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (96, ‘River Scene Moonlight’ 1'4" × 1'0 1/2"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1910.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> R.A. 1797 (136); Tate Gallery 1931 (2); R.A. 1974–5 (20); Hamburg 1976 (6, repr.).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Thornbury 1862, i, pp. 258, 261; ii, p. 331; 1877, pp. 92, 417–18; Hamerton 1879, p. 50; Bell 1901, p. 71 no. 82; Armstrong 1902, pp. 31, 225; Finberg 1910, pp. 28–9; Davies 1946, p. 187; Clare 1951, p. 18; Finberg 1961, pp. 42, 459 no. 33; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, pp. 8–10, pl. 6; Gaunt 1971, p. 4, colour pl. 2; Wilton 1979, pp. 41 n. 37, 51.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For a long time, until the identification of the 1796 <i>Fishermen at Sea</i>
(No. 1), regarded as Turner's ‘first exhibited oil-picture’ (Thornbury 1862, i, p. 258). It is perhaps just possible that this picture is imperfectly remembered in a note by 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/e/engraving" title="Glossary definition for 'Engraving'"><span>engraver</span></a> Bell, as given by Thornbury (1862, i, p. 75) of how ‘Mr. Bell stood by in the little room in Maiden-lane when Turner made his first attempt in oil, from a sketch in crayon, of a sunset on the Thames, near the Red House, Battersea’.
<br/>
<br/>Unlike the other oil exhibited in 1797 no.1 (<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-fishermen-at-sea-t01585" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T01585</span></a>) this picture does not seem to have attracted any critical attention.</p>
<p>
<br/><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
architecture astronomy bank boat, sailing England Millbank - non-specific moon night pier places river River Thames society star times of the day townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK countries and regions UK London UK natural features water: inland