In 2024, a painting credited to a follower of Julius Caesar Ibbetson called House by the water under a stormy sky was sold at auction for short of its £600 to £800 estimate.
But when it was cleaned and restored, the signature of JMW Turner was discovered on the canvas and it was realised that this one of the famous artist’s earliest works which he painted at the age of 17.
The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol is a romanticised view looking towards the city from what is now Hotwell Road close to the beginning of the Portway.
Independent journalism
is needed now More than ever
Keep our city’s journalism independent. Become a supporter member today.
The view today of a very different Hotwells would also be close to being underneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which when Turner painted the piece in 1792 was still more than 70 years away from opening.
The work was Turner’s first oil painting ever exhibited and is now coming up for sale at auction again, this time at Sotheby’s, when it is now estimated to sell for up to £300,000.
Turner has turned the River Avon next to Hot Wells House into a wild sea – image: Sotheby’s
Bristol City Council is attempting to raise the money to to buy the painting of Hotwells before it is sold in the auction taking place in London on July 2.
If successful, the council will hang the painting in Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.
No money from the council’s budget will be used to bid for the painting but plans for the fundraising will likely be approved by councillors on the strategy & resources policy committee on Monday.
Details of the plans were set out in a ‘late urgent agenda item’ in a committee report, which said that if the painting is purchased, “it would become a key painting in the art galleries, on display for much of the time, subject to conservation requirements being met”.
The report said: “The city has always harboured aspirations to own works by artists that are considered the great masters.
“The addition of an important and locally relevant Turner oil painting would be a significant addition to the city’s collections.
“This opportunity is unusual in that paintings of such provenance and relevance are extremely rare to become available and at an estimated auction price that warrants serious consideration.
“If approved, a public fundraising campaign will commence as soon as practicable.”
Council bosses hope buying the painting will attract more visitors to Bristol Museum but if the council is outbid, all committed funds will be returned after the auction.
Main photo: Sotheby’s
Read next:
