The exhibition will have several firsts for the city
Walker Art Gallery(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A major exhibition is set to open at the Walker Art Gallery this week. Turner: Always Contemporary will celebrate the work of JMW Turner and his enduring legacy will run from Friday, October 25 2025 until Sunday, February 22 2026 at the Liverpool city centre gallery.
The exhibition, which marks 250 years since the birth of JMW Turner, will include National Museums Liverpool’s collection of Turner’s oil paintings, works on paper and prints. The artwork will run alongside modern and contemporary artworks that delve into themes of travel, landscape and artistic experimentation.
A number of important and influential artworks from major galleries across the UK will feature in the exhibition, ranging from work by Maggi Hambling and Jeff Koons through to paintings by Annie Swynnerton and George Frederick Watts.
Visitors can expect to see two sharks by the artist Damien Hirst. Hirst is renowned for his series of artworks in which preserved animals are displayed in tanks filled with formaldehyde.
The Wreck Buoy, first exhibited 1849, JMW Turner
This will be the first time that the artwork, titled ‘Two Similar Swimming Forms in Endless Motion’ (1993) has been displayed in Liverpool, as well as the first time it’s been displayed alongside Turner paintings.
The painting ‘Gazing Ball (Turner Ancient Rome)’ (2015) by Jeff Koons will also be on display. The artwork is a hand-painted recreation of a Turner painting, with a blue reflective glass ball placed on a shelf at the centre.
Inspired by his Gazing Ball paintings series, Koons collaborated with Louis Vuitton to produce a line of accessories. Two handbags from the collection, titled Masters, will also be displayed.
The exhibition marks the first time that Koons will exhibit a painting from the Gazing Ball series in Liverpool.
Two Similar Swimming Forms in Endless Motion by Damien Hirst will be on display(Image: Liverpool )
Dr Melissa Gustin, Curator of British Art at National Museums Liverpool, said: “In his lifetime, Turner pushed the boundaries of what it means to paint, and to use it as a means of exploring some of the pressing issues of his day.
“It’s perhaps not surprising that his revolutionary approach would in turn influence some of the greatest living artists of our own generation.
“We’re looking forward to displaying Turner’s artwork in this context, alongside a diverse and exciting selection of modern masterpieces.”
The exhibition is supported by Lead Partner Quilter Cheviot.
To purchase tickets, visit: liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/turner.