J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner was an English Romantic painter born in London in 1775 and died there in 1851. The page presents him as one of the greatest British painters of the 19th century, especially for his treatment of light, atmosphere and colour in landscape painting.

He began as an architectural draughtsman and watercolourist, entered the Royal Academy at 14, and became a Royal Academician at 27. His work moved from topographical and classical subjects toward more abstract landscapes, seascapes, and scenes shaped by storms, fog, rivers, the sea, Venice, and the Industrial Revolution. He also worked in printmaking, especially mezzotint, and through the Liber Studiorum tried to raise the prestige of landscape painting. Turner produced about 550 oil paintings and over 2,000 watercolours, left a large bequest to the nation, and inspired early impressionists such as Monet and Pissarro.

Reading notes

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• The text defines him as an English Romantic painter, born and died in London, seen as one of the greatest British painters of the 19th century.
• His painting is marked by the expressive representation of light, atmosphere and color, especially in landscape.
• He began as an architectural draftsman and watercolorist, and later gained academic recognition as an oil painter.
• He entered the Royal Academy of Arts at 14 years old and was elected Royal Academician at 27.
• He had a rapid rise, with fame, financial success and sales to rich collectors while still young.
• His working-class origin generated criticism and friction with critics and aristocratic members of the Academy.
• The text says he never stopped experimenting with new techniques, in styles ranging from the Old Masters to more abstract works.
• He used travels through England and Europe as the basis for sketches and landscape paintings.
• He observed and painted natural phenomena such as sunlight, storms, clouds and fog to represent sea, rivers and mountains.
• His later phase became more abstract, was poorly received at the time and is now treated as the most important part of his work.
• He worked with several engraving techniques and preferred mezzotints.
• The Liber Studiorum brought together about 70 mezzotints and aimed to raise the prestige of landscape.
• Despite failing commercially, the Liber Studiorum was influential in valuing landscape painting.
• He produced about 550 oils and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as many sketches, drawings and sketchbooks.
• He left the nation about 100 finished oil paintings and 200 unfinished ones, along with a large body of drawings and watercolors.
• His property and investments were valued at £140,000 and later divided among the family after a legal dispute.
• Many works are now in the National Gallery and Tate Britain, in London.
• The text highlights his continued attention to the Thames river, near which he lived, rented houses and even turned a boat into a floating studio.
• He never married and kept his personal life separate from his professional activity.
• In his final years, he lived with Sophia Caroline Booth in Chelsea and died there in 1851.
• He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, near Joshua Reynolds, as he wished.
• As Professor of Perspective, he defended the Academy and spoke about perspective, poetry in painting and landscape techniques.
• His lectures were difficult to follow, but he was valued as a teacher in class and for the advice he gave students.
• The section on style states that his most important innovations occurred in watercolor, which he developed as a medium capable of expressive force similar to oil.
• He also experimented with oil pigments and used materials that later faded easily.
• The sea was a constant theme, from Fishermen at Sea to The Slave Ship and Seascape: Folkestone.
• Landscape and seascape painting, according to the text, were reinvented in this period, and Turner played a central role in this process.
• His landscapes linked painting, poetry, morality and symbolic associations to approach the value of historical paintings.
• Works such as The Field of Waterloo and The Slave Ship use scenes of war and slavery for moral and social commentary.
• The text also presents him as a painter of the industrial world, with locomotives, steam, iron, smoke and speed.
• Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway is described as a central work of this phase, aimed at conveying the perception of speed.
• Turner influenced Monet and Pissarro, who saw his paintings in London in 1870.
• The text records that today there are statues, a commemorative plaque, the Turner Prize, a BBC vote that chose The Fighting Temeraire as the greatest British painting and his presence on the Bank of England £20 note.