A magnificent exhibition of old master sea-scape paintings will take place at London’s Tate Britain art gallery from 23 September – 31 January 2010.

The idea is to show how Britain’s own great painter, J W Turner, attempted to imitate and then outshine many of the greatest painters in history including Canaletto, Claude, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens and Titian.

The show will pair some of Turners’ greatest paintings with outstanding works by old masters, as well as contemporaries such as Constable and Bonington, to reveal his debts and rivalries in exciting, even unpredictable, ways.