Painting bought for £500 is identified as early work by JMW Turner
The artwork, titled The Rising Squall, sold for approximately £1.9 million at a London auction in July 2025.
A painting purchased for £524.80 at a British auction in April 2024 has been identified as an early work by JMW Turner, according to a report by the Times of India.
The landscape, titled The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent's Rock, Bristol, sold for approximately £1.9 million at Sotheby's in London on July 2, 2025, after its attribution to the artist was established.
The artwork was originally catalogued as House by a Water in a Stormy Sky and attributed to a follower of Julius Caesar Ibbetson at the Dreweatts auction house in Newbury, England.
During cleaning and restoration, a signature reading W Turner was found in the lower-left corner, leading experts to confirm the connection to the artist.
Dated to around 1792, the painting depicts Hot Wells House near Bristol and was Turner's first oil painting to be exhibited publicly at the Royal Academy in 1793.
The Bristol Museum and Art Gallery raised more than £100,000 through a campaign called Bring Turner Home to bid for the work, but was surpassed by a private collector from the United Kingdom.