Online Members' book club
About
Must we paint these artists in contrast?
Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable helped shape our understanding of 18th-century British art and landscape painting. Born just 14 months apart, their work both focused on the British landscape, and yet it is as different as their personalities.
Author Nichola Moorby, curator at Tate Modern, interrogates our understanding of these two vividly British artists in her new book ‘Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape’.
Both faced similar challenges and opportunities. Both fought for the appreciation and recognition of landscape painting.
Art historian Matthew Morgan joins Nicola Moorby in conversation about her book, these artists, and their shared role as champions of a distinctly British art.
This is a National Gallery Members’ book club event, with time for questions at the end of the discussion.
Speakers
Nicola Moorby is Curator of British Art, 1790‒1850 at Tate and guest curator of an exhibition at Turner’s House in Twickenham, ‘Turner’s Kingdom: Beauty, Birds and Beast’, 23 April ‒ 26 October 2025. Her new book, ‘Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape’ is published by Yale University Press.
Dr Matthew Morgan is a freelance art historian, educator and museum professional. Until recently he was the Museum Director of Turner's House, and he is also an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. He has worked in the heritage sector for over 10 years, including at the Royal Collection, the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Prior to that he was a Director in Christie’s Valuation Department. He has contributed to TV documentaries, podcasts, radio shows and has lectured widely across the country and made a series of short films which can be seen on YouTube.
Watch again
A recording of this event will be made available to all ticket holders in the days following the event.
This recording will be available for two weeks.
Closed captions
Automatic closed captioning is available for this event.
Turner and Constable: Art, life, landscape
Online Members' book club
Free for Members
This is an online event, exclusive to Members, hosted on Zoom.
Members, please book your free ticket to access this event. You will receive an E-ticket with instructions on how to access your online events, films and resources via your National Gallery account. Only one ticket can be booked per account.
A recording of this event will be made available to all ticket holders in the days following the event.
