I can understand that there might have been popular theatre making fun of famous and controversial artists of the day. I just can't understand why Turner would have been at the performance. Does this scene have any basis in reality?
shareIt was probably just one scene of many in a comedy piece that lampooned different aspects of Victorian society and not just Turner, which is why it might have taken him by surprise. In reality Turner had many enemies, including Queen Victoria, who refused to knight him, and he was attacked viciously by almost every art critic except John Ruskin as his work became more and more abstract -- he was WAY ahead of his time in that respect.
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