Tag Archives: Water Color

One of many we hope!

We have been admiring Turner art pieces for some time. We have come close to purchasing a few pieces, but this weekend seemed right so we made the plunge. Mel and I picked up a nice mirrored piece of pinkish parrots at the second Sunday antique fair in Sacramento. I have spent a couple of hours now researching Turner and the artist seems to be an enigma just like Carlo of Hollywood. I don’t know what it is about artists of that era but it is soo darn hard to find anything out about them. The image below is what I found online on the back of a Turner piece (I recreated the tag because the original was in sad shape).

Here is what I can tell so far: First, Turner was not a specific artist but a company named Turner Manufacturing Company out of Chicago IL.. Turner Mfg. hired artists to paint its artwork using its unique style of airbrush and watercolor. Turner also sold mirrors, mirrored frames, art, etc. inexpensively. I have also read that Turner Mfg. sold furniture and they would give this artwork to purchasers of their furniture as a sort of thank you. This is just what I was able to find by researching but I am not sure if it is all true and correct, none the less I know how the art makes me feel. Every time I see a piece by Turner it seems to calm me. The soft lines and edges are just relaxing to look at. I really like Turner’s landscape scenes but they are very hard to come by.

Look at the rolling hills and the soft colors.

Maybe somewhere in the Everglades?

Of course, Turner Mfg. is most known for its tropical birds like Flamingos, Parrots and Cranes. Here are a few to sample:

Appears we have a dispute or maybe they are courting, who knows but it is a cool image.

such a classic image.

Similar to the Flamingos. This would look great in a Tiki room.

Turner Mfg. produced many images such as flowers, birds, southern bells, jungle cats and scenic images. It is clear to me that Turner’s art is a true collectors piece that would make any retro decor more complete. It is amazing to me that skill like this has no history and no one to take credit for the very skilful use of this medium.

The black back ground makes the image stand out.

We hope to acquire the Flamingos piece next. It is always nice to diversify your collection and not stick to just one thing. Mel and I enjoy collecting many things and the great thing is that it makes each trip to the antique store/fair a scavenger hunt. As we add to our collection we will try to add to the info known about Turner Mfg. and try to help shed light on these fantastic pieces of art.

Source:

http://www.antique-marks.com/turner-watercolor-painting-cockatiels.html