WHAT? Turner’s Kingdom: Beauty, Birds and Beasts 

WHERE? Turner’s House, 40 Sandycoombe Road, Twickenham, TW1 2LR

WHEN? Now until 26th October. Check opening hours 

WHY GO?  For a voyage of discovery.  It won’t have passed unnoticed to any culture lover that this year marks the 250th anniversary of Britain’s greatest landscape artist J.M.W Turner and there are dozens of events to celebrate but none more personal than a glimpse into his former home, now museum, where an exhibition revealing his love of animals has just opened.

Renowned for his dramatic swirling seas, moody skies and mountain tops from Margate to the Swiss Alps, this surprising little exhibition focuses closer to home on a menagerie of birds, fish and animals and feels especially personal set in the intimacy of his country house designed with a little help from his best pal, the esteemed Sir John Soane. 

These rarely seen studies show a sensitive side to the man generally regarded as grumpy and eccentric. So obsessed with his work was Turner that he skipped his own daughter’s wedding to take a walking tour with his sketchbook.

Inspired by his walks and fishing trips, many of the birds Turner portrays were originally created for the Farnley Book of Birds painted for his patron, Walter Fawkes of Farnley Hall and this is a unique opportunity to savour their simplicity while soaking up the atmosphere of Turner’s reclusive lifestyle.

IN THE KNOW  Brush up on the painter of light’s watercolours and sketch books not generally on show (there are too many to display) by booking a private viewing at The Prints and Drawing Rooms in Tate Britain where you can access works from Turner’s extensive collection ahead of any that might later be exhibited.