This was an inspiration, for it turns out that there was a huge exhibit of Turner oil and water color paintings on display.
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 - 1851) was a romantic, inspired by and in search of "The Sublime". He was very advanced for his times and controversial. A contemporary review was posted near a painting, reflecting what some art critics thought of his style, when it turned abstract: "Throwing handfuls of white, and blue, and red, at the canvas, letting what chanced to stick, stick; and then shadowing in some forms to make the appearance of a picture."
For a modern viewer however, his most abstract paintings seem familiar and reveal Turner as a great precursor to the Impressionists. It is forbidden to take pictures at special exhibitions at the Met, but I dodged the guards and managed to catch on my phone camera four of the most impressive abstract works on display.
Willows beside a stream
This charming landscape is rendered in impressionistic touches, suggesting rather than asserting, creating a relaxed and quiet mood. The eye is attracted to the left bottom corner by a few colorful and bright brush strokes, which sketch what perhaps was intended to be a pastoral scene. It is left unfinished, but it creates a welcome counterpoint to the trunks of the willow trees across the stream.
The Lake from Petworth House, Sunset
Calais Sands at Low Water, Poissards Collecting Bait
A powerful painting. In the forefront, against the backdrop of an incandescent sunset, bent-over fishermen wives collect worms in the wet sand. The thin film of water over the flat sand reflects their twisted bodies, the setting sun, the dark clouds and an isolated rock.
Sunset over Como
A late unfinished washed out water color ... an evanescent dream ... but one can distinguish the ruin of a castle, the towers of a town in the distance, the lake surrounded by dark hills under the vibrating light of an Italian sun.
