The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons 2

On the night of October 16, 1834, fire ripped through the old Houses of Parliament in London, and J. M. W. Turner was there among the crowds crowding the banks of the Thames to watch it burn. He reportedly scribbled quick sketches on the spot that night, then worked them into several finished paintings back in the studio. This is one of two oil versions he made of the scene, showing the moment the flames roared skyward and set the river ablaze with gold and orange reflections.

Turner cared far more about light and mood than crisp lines, and that comes through in every inch of the canvas. The fire melts into billowing smoke, the buildings and bridge nearly lose their edges in the heat, and tiny figures gather along the shore, made small by the enormous glow above them. This loose, almost dreamlike approach was well ahead of its day, and it would later help point the way toward Impressionism, even though plenty of Turner's own contemporaries thought his paintings looked messy or unfinished.

The odd thing is how something so destructive ends up looking so gorgeous. That tension between ruin and beauty is exactly what gives the painting its strange, lasting pull.