During its two months on display at the Grimaldi Forum, Turner: The Sublime Legacy welcomed upwards of 65,000 visitors, making this Tate Gallery collaboration one of the venue’s most successful summer exhibitions in its history.
Ethereal landscapes and turbulent sea scenes were the hallmarks of the great British painter J.M.W. Turner. This summer, 80 of his finest examples of works, both on canvas and on paper, were showcased in the Principality at the Grimaldi Forum’s main summer exhibition.
In all, some 65,000 people passed through the doors of Turner, le sublime héritage – or Turner: The Sublime Legacy in English – and were welcomed into an immersive world that lauded not only the great painter, but also those he influenced, including artists such as John Akomfrah, Edward Burtynsky, Peter Doig, Olafur Eliasson, Howard Hodgkin, Roni Horn, Richard Long, Lisa Milroy, Cornelia Parker, Katie Paterson, Laure Prouvost, Mark Rothko, Wolfgang Tillmans, James Turrell and Jessica Warboys.
Made possible through a collaboration with the Tate Gallery, the exhibition filled more than 2,000sqm of the landmark Monaco venue.
“The exhibition was a unique opportunity to see works by William Turner that rarely leave London in such large numbers, but also to discover paintings, photos or video installations by major modern and contemporary artists,” says Francesco Grosoli, CEO of CMB Monaco, an official partner of the Grimaldi Forum. “We salute the impeccable quality of this exhibition, which demonstrates the unique know-how of the Grimaldi Forum under the enlightened management of its General Director [Sylvie Biancheri].”
Though falling short of the Forum’s record-breaking Monet en Pleine Lumière exhibit in 2023, which attracted 120,000 visitors, the Turner exhibit has still been deemed a huge success.
“This is a most satisfactory result, the sixth best score in nearly 25 years of exhibitions, for a subject that was not a priori the most popular,” says Biancheri. “The bias towards originality and quality of the subject has been rewarded. We are delighted.”
The team at the Grimaldi Forum is already busy planning 2025’s summer offering, Couleurs ! Les chefs d’œuvre du Centre Pompidou, as well as its own 25th anniversary celebrations.
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