£500 Turner Becomes £1.9m: Mislabelled canvas is authenticated as early JMW Turner; Bristol loses bid

An artwork that changed hands for little more than £500 at a regional British auction has turned into an extraordinary discovery in the art world. The painting, initially believed to be the work of an artist associated with 18th-century painter Julius Caesar Ibbetson, was later identified as an early landscape by renowned British artist JMW Turner.

Titled The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent's Rock, Bristol, the painting was eventually sold for approximately £1.9 million at Sotheby's in London in July 2025, after its attribution to Turner was established. The discovery was reported by The Guardian, The Art Newspaper and Artnet News, which followed the painting's journey from an overlooked auction lot to a major Old Master sale.A forgotten painting that resurfaced at a local auctionThe story began in April 2024, when the painting appeared at Dreweatts auction house in Newbury, England.

It was catalogued as House by the Water in a Stormy Sky and attributed to a follower of Julius Caesar Ibbetson, rather than Turner himself.