The Opening of the Wallhalla, 1842 is an 1843 oil painting by the British artist J.M.W. Turner.Bailey p.563 It depicts the opening ceremony for the Walhalla in Bavaria.Reynolds p.173
Located on a hillside outside Regensburg on the River Danube, the large Doric monument was constructed to celebrate German history overseen by Ludwig I of Bavaria.Moyle p.404-6
Travelling back from Venice in 1840, Turner had seen the Walhalla under construction. Intending this as a tribute, he imagined the opening ceremony as a panoramic landscape.
Exhibitions and Critical Reception
Turner displayed the work at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1843 at the National Gallery in London.
Turner exhibited paintings only twice outside of England and both were very badly received by local critics.
The Opening of the Walhalla was included in a 1845 exhibition called the Congress of European Art in Munich. The painting generated acrimonious criticism as the Germans were "horrified [...] and appalled by the loose handling and lack of form and regrettably interpreted it as a satire upon their country."
The picture formed part of the Turner Bequest of 1856 and is now in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico.https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-opening-of-the-wallhalla-1842-n00533
See also List of paintings by J. M. W. Turner
Notes
References
Bibliography Bailey, Anthony. J.M.W. Turner: Standing in the Sun. Tate Enterprises, 2013
Moyle, Franny. Turner: The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of J. M. W. Turner. Penguin Books, 2016. Reynolds, Graham. Turner. Thames & Hudson, 2022.