Tate Britain’s Turner show reveals an old master – though the Spectator didn’t think so at the time

Juvenilia is the work produced during an artist’s youth. It would seem logical to think, therefore, that an artist’s output during their old age would be classified as ‘senilia’. Yet no such word exists.

But how else to classify the three blockbuster exhibitions this year that deal with Matisse, Turner and Rembrandt’s late work? These titans produced some of their finest art during old age. The exuberance of Matisse’s cut-outs are all the more astonishing given that they were produced not in the first bloom of life but rather in the dying embers of it. Rembrandt’s late works — on display at the National Gallery from October and discussed by Martin Gayford on p64 — will include some of his most soulful paintings.

Late Turner at Tate Britain has a similar narrative. The bold vision in many of these paintings is startling given Turner’s age — 60 at the point the show starts — and the ailments that came with it: poor sight, diabetes, tremors in his hands.