The Carved Room, with the four paintings by Turner restored to the panelling, at Petworth House and Park, West Sussex. The carvings are by Grinling Gibbons. Henry VIII portrait hangs over fireplace.

The year 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775– 1851), one of the most admired and influential British artists. J.M.W. Turner had a unique relationship with George O’Brien Wyndham, the 3rd Earl of Egremont, who inherited Petworth House and Park, West Sussex, in 1763—now an NT property. The artist was a frequent house guest and was free to explore the house and estate, drawing great inspiration from the beauty of Petworth’s interiors, collections, and landscape. As a collector of British art, the 3rd Earl was a great patron and host to many contemporary artists such as Turner, John Constable, and C.R. Leslie. Turner’s extraordinary talent, combined with the unique opportunity to work at Petworth, allowed him to produce detailed pictorial descriptions of the great house and estate. These masterpieces can be seen at Petworth in the original devised for them after being reinstated in the early 2000s. Join Dr. John Chu, NT Senior Curator of Pictures and Sculpture, as he examines Turner’s works which illustrate what life was like at Petworth almost 200 years ago. He will also discuss  the upcoming NT exhibition Turner’s Vision at Petworth (June 21–November 16, 2025), and the artist’s relationship with the Earl and demonstrate the impact this extraordinary house and landscape had on one of Britain’s celebrated artists.

John Chu was appointed Senior Curator of Pictures and Sculpture for Midlands at the National Trust, UK in 2021. He joined the NT in 2015 as Assistant Curator of Pictures and Sculpture and worked on exhibitions at Osterley, Powis Castle, and Basildon Park among other properties. He also worked on permanent re-displays of state rooms at The Vyne, Hampshire and Knole, Kent. He graduated from Cambridge University and received a Master of Arts and Ph.D. from Courtauld Institute of Art, London University. He was a visiting lecturer from University of Reading and an Associate Lecturer at Courtauld Institute of Art. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at The Paul Mellon Center for Studies in British Art.

Location: CDA Abigail Adams Smith Ballroom, 417 E. 61st Street
New York, NY  10065

In-Person: 6:15pm (ET), Lecture will be followed by a reception
Tickets: $35 members*; $45 non-members
*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account

Note: This lecture will be in-person only, with no rental recording.