J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner (born in Covent Garden, London on April 23 1775 (exact date disputed), died December 19 1851) was an English Romantic landscape artist, whose style can be said to lay the foundations for Impressionism.

Life and career

His father, William Turner, was a wig-maker who later became a barber. His mother, Mary Marshall, a housewife, became increasingly mentally unstable during his early years, perhaps in part due to the early death of Turner's younger sister in 1786. She died in 1804, having been committed to a mental asylum.

Related Topics:
1786 - 1804 - Mental asylum

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Possibly due to the load placed on the family by these problems, the young Turner was sent in 1785 to stay with his uncle on his mother's side in Brentford, which was then a small town west of London on the banks of the Thames. It was here that he first expressed an interest in painting. A year later he went to school in Margate in Kent to the east of London in the area of the Thames estuary. At this time he had been creating many paintings, which his father exhibited in his shop window.

Related Topics:
1785 - Brentford - London - Thames - Margate - Kent - Thames estuary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was accepted into the Royal Academy of Art when he was only 15 years old. Turner was interested in being a part of the Royal Academy of Art unlike some of his contemporaries. At first Turner showed a keen interest in architecture but was advised to keep to painting by the architect Thomas Hardwick (junior). Sir Joshua Reynolds, the president of the Royal Academy at that time, chaired the panel that admitted him. A watercolour of his was accepted for the Summer Exhibition of 1790 after only one year's study. He exhibited his first oil painting in 1796. Throughout the rest of his life, he regularly exhibited at the academy.

Related Topics:
Royal Academy of Art - Thomas Hardwick (junior) - Sir Joshua Reynolds - Watercolour - Summer Exhibition - 1790 - Oil painting - 1796

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He is commonly known as "the painter of light". Although renowned for his oils, Turner is also regarded as one of the founders of English watercolour landscape painting.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of his most famous oil paintings is The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, painted in 1839, which hangs in the National Gallery, London. See also The Golden Bough.

Related Topics:
1839 - National Gallery, London - The Golden Bough

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turner travelled widely in Europe, starting with France and Switzerland in 1802 and studying in the Louvre in Paris in the same year. He also made many visits to Venice during his lifetime. He never married, although he had a mistress, Sarah Danby, by whom he had two daughters.

Related Topics:
France - Switzerland - 1802 - Louvre - Paris - Venice

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As he grew older, Turner became more eccentric. He had few close friends, except for his father, who lived with him for thirty years, eventually working as his studio assistant. His father died in 1829, which had a profound effect on him, and thereafter he was subject to bouts of depression.

Related Topics:
1829 - Depression

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He died in his house in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea on 19 December 1851. At his request he was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, where he lies next to Sir Joshua Reynolds. His last exhibition at the Royal Academy was in 1850.

Related Topics:
Cheyne Walk - Chelsea - 19 December - 1851 - St Paul's Cathedral - 1850

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~