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William Turner

An April Shower: A View from Binsey Ferry Near Oxford, Looking Towards Port Meadow and Godstow

1842
Watercolor over graphite, with scraping, on cream wove paper
45.5 × 68.5 cm (17.9 × 27 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

William Turner of Oxford belongs to the second generation of great English watercolorists, known for their Romantic obsession with nature as a source of values and for their belief in the cult of the picturesque. He tried to maintain the topographic specificity seen in works of earlier eras while elevating watercolor landscapes to the level of moral enhancement. This idea is illustrated here by the harmony of humans and animals; the importance of family is underscored by an arcing rainbow.

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