Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000254The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834
by Joseph Mallord William Turner
Also known as: Burning of the Houses of Parliament, 1834
About the Artwork
Fire consumed London’s famous Houses of Parliament on the night of October 16, 1834, and people gathered along the banks of the river Thames to gaze in awe at the horrifying spectacle. Initially, a low tide made it difficult to pump water to land and hampered steamers towing firefighting equipment along the river. The blaze burned uncontrollably for hours. J. M. W. Turner records the struggle as the boats in the lower-right corner head toward the flames. Although Turner based the painting on an actual event, he magnified the height of the flames, using the disaster as the starting point to express man’s helplessness when confronted with the destructive powers of nature. Brilliant swathes of color and variable atmospheric effects border on abstraction.
Provenance
Bought from the artist by John Garth Marshall [1765-1845], Headingly House, Leeds, United Kingdom, and by descent. 1888: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, April 28, 1888, under the name of Ponsford. Descended in the Marshall family through Victor Marshall of Mark Coniston to James Marshall. 1920: (Leicester Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 1920, sale; but returned to owner) 1922: (Knoedler, London, United Kingdom, 1922, sold to John L. Severance) 1922-1936: John L. Severance [1863-1936], Cleveland, OH, by bequest in 1936 to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1942-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943). Turner in America: Oils, Water Colors, Drawings, and Some Engraved Works of Joseph Mallord William Turner. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN (organizer) (November 12, 1955-December 25, 1995); Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH (January 1-31, 1956). Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956). The Romantic Movement. The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (July 10-September 27, 1959). Turner: Imagination and Reality. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 23-June 19, 1966). Turner Watercolors from The British Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 27-November 27, 1977). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). Turner. National Gallery of Australia (organizer) (March 16-June 10, 1996). J. M. Turner. Museum Folkwang, 45128 Essen, Germany (organizer) (September 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). CMA Highlights. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 21-September 11, 2005). Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007). Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007). J.M.W. Turner. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (October 1, 2007-January 6, 2008); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (February 10-May 25, 2008). British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer). Turner's Modern World. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (October 17, 2021-February 6, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/turners-modern-world; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (March 27-July 10, 2022) https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/turners-modern-world. Turner and Constable. Tate Britain, London (organizer) (November 27-April 12, 2025) https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-and-constable.
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1775–1851)
- Date
- 1835
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 123.5 x 153.5 x 12 cm (48 5/8 x 60 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 92 x 123.2 cm (36 1/4 x 48 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of John L. Severance
- Accession no.
- 1942.647
More by Joseph Mallord William Turner in museum collections
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000321
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000572
Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm, Avalanche, and Thunderstorm
Joseph Mallord William Turner1836–37 · Painting
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00001473
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00002198
Open-access museum record · AT-00000254
Powered by Art Trackers