NYC exhibition: 4 whaling paintings by J.M.W. Turner

NEW YORK (AP) - Four whaling paintings by the British artist J.M.W. Turner will be united for the first time in an upcoming exhibition in New York City.

"Turner's Whaling Pictures" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens May 10 and runs through Aug. 7

The paintings were created toward the end of the artist's career. Seascapes and other marine subjects were among Turner's favorite subjects.

The whaling paintings were exhibited in pairs at the Royal Academy in London in 1845 and 1846.

One of the paintings at the Met comes from its own collection. The other three are from Tate Britain.

The Met says the exhibition also will offer an opportunity to consider the paintings possible influence on Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." The classic tale was published months before Turner's death in 1851.