John Opie Likely Painted Portrait on £20 Note
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- Tate Britain launched the new £20 note in 2020 featuring Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and a portrait of JMW Turner.
- Dr James Hamilton argued the portrait, long thought a Turner self‑portrait, is actually a work by contemporary portraitist John Opie.
- Hamilton noted the portrait’s style—dramatic light emerging from dark—and its c1799 date match Opie’s technique, citing a similar portrait in the San Diego Museum of Art.
- The Turner Bequest, after Turner’s 1851 death, incorporated the portrait among nearly 300 oils and 30,000 sketches, leading to its misattribution because the works were catalogued in disarray.
- Dr Pieter van der Merwe of the Turner Society said Hamilton’s case against a Turner self‑portrait is solid on documentary grounds but called the Opie attribution “plausible but speculative”.
- Dr Selby Whittingham disputed Hamilton’s claim, asserting the portrait’s light tonality is characteristic of Turner’s own work.
Why it matters: If the portrait is re‑attributed to Opie, the Tate may have to revise its catalogue and the £20 note’s narrative, while Opie’s legacy would gain a high‑profile work. Conversely, Turner’s canon would lose a celebrated self‑portrait, altering scholarly perception for art historians.
