Every January for over a century, a series of 38 watercolour artworks are unveiled at the National Galleries as Edinburgh reaches its coldest and darkest time of year. Since the exhibition’s first installment in 1901, J. M. W. Turner’s watercolour paintings have imbued the new year with a characteristic light and warmth.
Born in Covent Garden in London, Turner was regarded as the most famous British artist in the 19th century. The works displayed in this exhibition were bequeathed to the National Galleries of Scotland in 1900 by Henry Vaughan, a British art collector. According to the terms of the bequest, these watercolours must be exhibited for free during the month of January, when the levels of natural light would be at their lowest, in order to prevent the paintings from losing their original intense colours.
Almost 200 years since their creation, the Turner’s watercolours remain delicate and light. Each piece depicts naturalistic scenes across Europe, reflecting the artist’s nomadic lifestyle. There are paintings of scenes from Durham to Venice, and Turner’s brushstrokes evokes a startling dream-like quality. Despite being small in scale, each painting also possesses a stunning attention to detail —Turner renders people, animals, and even architecture with a lifelike precision.
Most impressive is Turner’s depiction of natural light. Rays of sunlight seem to spill from each painting into the winter cold. As one moves through the exhibition, the paintings seem to get brighter, culminating finally in an iconic painting of Heidelberg set against a blinding sun.
Despite returning yearly, the exhibition remains incredibly popular. A visit to Turner in January has become an annual tradition for many Edinburgh locals. The queue to enter the exhibition room winds itself through the National Galleries’ permanent exhibition rooms; visitors can expect to wait up to an hour to even enter the room.
Turner in January was on display at the National between 1 to 31 January 2026. The exhibition will return in 2027. Throughout the rest of the year, the paintings can be viewed by appointment in the Prints & Drawings Study Room at Modern Two.
“Study of J.M.W. Turner Sketching” is marked with CC0 1.0.