#jmw-turner

#jmw-turner

Visitors to a major JMW Turner exhibition may well be surprised to see the opening work is by Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst sharks, a Bridget Riley stripe painting and some Doc Marten boots supplied by the curator herself are also on display. Surprised? That's what we're hoping, said Melissa Gustin, the curator of British art at National Museums Liverpool. But by the end it will all make perfect sense, she hopes. That is the vibe we are after.

Nelson's flagship, Victory, looms larger than life at the centre of the composition, symbolising British naval supremacy rather than the precise realities of combat. Across its rigging, the signal flags spell out the final three letters of "duty", a deliberate nod both to Nelson's immortal command - "England expects every man to do his duty" - and his dying words: "Thank God I have done my duty."