Scientific Light

English painter J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) has been called the ‘painter of light’. He developed new artistic techniques to capture natural phenomena, evoking the intensity and transience of light.

Turner’s works were simultaneously intuitive and scientific. He drew on the colour theories of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who argued that every colour was a unique combination of light and dark. Goethe’s ideas influenced Turner’s painting as well as his teaching. For his students, he prepared diagrams showing the reflection and refraction of rays of light and the production of shadows. His approach enabled him to capture visual sensations that had never been reproduced in visual art before. In the companion paintings shown in this room – Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory)… and Shade and Darkness… – Turner opposes cool and warm colours and light and dark to capture fleeting atmospheric effects and explore contrasting emotional associations.

Discover how Turner has influenced a range of cinematographers, filmmakers and artists working with film over the decades in this article from Tate.

科学之光

英国画家约瑟夫·马洛德·威廉·透纳（1775—1851）被誉为“光之画家”。他发展了新的艺术技法来捕捉自然现象，展现光的强度和稍纵即逝。

透纳的作品兼具直觉性和科学性。他借鉴了德国作家约翰·沃尔夫冈·冯·歌德的色彩理论。歌德认为，每一种色彩都是明与暗的独特组合。歌德的思想影响了透纳的绘画，也影响了他的教学。透纳为学生准备了图解，演示光线的反射、折射和阴影的产生。他的方法使他能够捕捉到以前从未在视觉艺术中被表达的视觉感受。此展厅内展出了一组画作——《光与色<歌德理论>…》与《阴霾与黑暗…》，透纳利用冷暖色彩、明暗对比，试图捕捉光稍纵即逝的气氛效果，探索形成鲜明对比的情感联想。