Turner Contemporary opens in Margate

Turner Contemporary, a £20m art gallery, opens on Margate’s stone pier in 2007 and promises to offer a diverse programme of art. Much of this will ‘echo the pioneering approach’ of its namesake Joseph Mallord William Turner, while there will also be ‘opportunities on an annual basis’ to see the master’s work, a recent press release crows. The only hitch? The gallery doesn’t actually own any Turner paintings. Oh, and those seascapes Turner is famous for? Gallery visitors won’t be able to see the real thing. The ‘groundbreaking and iconic’ Turner Contemporary building, rising out of the water like a massive purse sponge, will have a rooftop skylight, but no windows.