TURNER PAINTING FEATURES ON NEW £20 NOTE

One of England’s greatest painters is to become the country's first-ever fine artist immortalized on a banknote. The Bank of England last week revealed its newly redesigned £20 note, featuring the likeness and work of JMW Turner, one of the country’s most revered artists.

The bill was unveiled at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, a seaside town that figured prominently in Turner’s life. The Turner Contemporary, an arts center named for the painter, as well as the town’s lighthouse, appear on the bill. Tracey Emin, one of Britain’s greatest living artists and a Margate native, was on hand to reveal the bill, which will enter circulation in February 2020.

The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up (1839), one of Turner’s most famous works, serves as the background on the bill. In the original work, the HMS Temeraire is shown being towed to be scrapped in front of a dramatic swath of brilliant colors. The Temeraire played an important role in Admiral Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Turner bequeathed this painting and much of his work to England in his will. Once voted the country’s favorite painting, it now hangs in London’s National Gallery.

The new bill comes as England is modernizing its money, moving from paper-printed bills to ones on polymer, which are nearly impossible to counterfeit. Security features on the new £20 include two see-through windows, a hologram, raised braille text, a silver foil patch, and printing in ultra-violet ink. New £5 and £10 notes have previously been issued, featuring Winston Churchill and Jane Austen, respectively. A £50 polymer bill planned for 2021 will feature mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing.

To read the complete article, see:
JMW Turner Becomes First Fine Artist to Grace UK Banknote (https://www.artandobject.com/blog/jmw-turner-becomes-first-fine-artist-grace-uk-banknote)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ENGLAND'S £20 NOTE TO FEATURE ARTIST JMW TURNER (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n18a26.html)

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