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by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Chain Pier Brighton is a painting that depicts one of Turner's favourite themes: an area in which the city gives way to the sea. Turner was clearly fond of coastal towns as he returned to this image time and time again during his career.
The main subject of the painting is the iconic Royal Suspension Chain Pier in Brighton, which was built in 1823 and ultimately destroyed by a storm in 1896.
Turner's painting captures the pier in its prime, showing a scene in which is stretches across an otherwise sparse landscape. To the left of the canvas can be seen sailing boats, in which men of the 19th century go about their business.
The sails reflect the golden glow of the clear sky, the painting depicting either sunrise or sunset. The water is so tactile that any viewer will feel as though they could reach into the canvas and dip their hands into the sea; the reflected sun streaks down the middle of the waters.
Anybody looking for a Turner painting to hang in their living room will find "Chain Pier Brighton" to be the perfect choice.
It will act as a window into a moment of history, a single time in which a beautiful golden sky spread out across the coast of nineteenth-century Brighton.
It shows an inviting world; the viewer can almost see the water rippling, and feel the sea breeze in their face. Few paintings command so much sensory power.
Joseph Mallord William Turner specialised in landscapes and remains one of the most iconic painters in English history; few names conjure up an entire country and its heritage as swiftly as that of Turner.
His canvasses depict an idealised England of a bygone age, one in which quaint cities and lush countrysides spread out beneath clear skies.
To look at a Turner painting is to lose oneself in a truly beguiling landscape; it should scarce be surprising that Turner's work remains popular in the modern day, as art lovers across the world seek to escape from cramped, modern homes and into the moments of English history that were perfectly captured by this superb artist.