Turners return home

The finishing touches are being put to the exhibition on loan from the Tate Collection to Petworth House in West Sussex.

Turner made more than 100 sketches of the country house and its surrounding landscape during the 1820s when he often stayed as a guest of his patron, the third Earl of Egremont.

The Turner at Petworth exhibition includes more than 70 watercolours, oil paintings and small sketches which are rarely seen in public because they are so fragile.

One of the other highlights for visitors to the house are four landscapes commissioned by the earl, placed in the exact spots in the Carved Room where they were meant to be hung.

The collection already at the National Trust-owned property features a total of 20 Turner oil paintings in the largest collection of oils outside a museum or gallery.

The exhibition, which opens on Saturday and runs until 29 September, comes after a £500,000 10-year National Trust refurbishment project.

The Carved Room and Red Room have been fully restored to the opulent appearance they had in the 1830s.

Lively sketches

A National Trust spokesman said: "Turner at Petworth reveals the artist's colourful, impressionistic scenes of the house with delightful, informal views of landscapes and family life.

"In rapidly executed, lively sketches, he depicts interiors and inhabitants reading, talking and posing for portraits."

People will also be allowed limited access to the studio used by Turner and other artists in the Old Library at the house.

Turner and the earl enjoyed more than just a professional relationship, with the artist one of the chief mourners at his patron's funeral.

Alongside the exhibition, work will be featured by artists who have been working in Turner's old studio.