Let the world enjoy Turner’s artistic genius
SIR – It is wonderful and appropriate that JM W Turner and his art should be noted on Britain’s currency (report, April 22). However, more could be done to bring his genius to the world.
Britain only displays a tiny fraction of Turner’s paintings, watercolours and drawings. Wouldn’t the world profit if the others were lent to museums elsewhere? Wouldn’t Britain benefit from sharing Turner with the rest of us?
The world might then see the link between Impressionism and its British progenitor. Bob Eisenberg Chicago, Illinois, United States SIR – The design of a nation’s currency reflects how its citizens perceive their society. The words that come to mind to describe our coinage designs (from 2008) are
fractured, ugly and disappointing. The proposed design for the £20 note is another example. Turner is indeed one of our best painters, and
The Fighting Temeraire is probably his best-loved work. However, what it depicts is the glorious past being dragged off to the scrapyard.
To my mind Turner’s equally famous Rain, Steam and Speed shows a nation embracing the journey into the future. Stuart Green Bedford