Joseph
Mallord William Turner,
the son of a barber and wigmaker, was born in London in 1775. As a
child Turner made money by colouring engravings for his father's customers.
At the age of 14 he entered the Royal
Academy.
He exhibited his first drawing, A
View of the Archbishop's Palace in Lambeth
in 1790. Two years later he providing illustrations for the Copperplate
Magazine
and the Pocket
Magazine.
In 1792 Turner went on his first sketching tour. Most of his pictures
during this period were cathedrals, abbeys, bridges and towns but
in 1796 he became interested in painting pictures of the sea. He also
began touring with his artist friend, Thomas
Girton.
By 1800 Turner was acknowledged as one of Britain's leading topographical
watercolourist. He received several commissions to illustrate books.
His artistic ability was recognised when he was elected an associate
of the Royal Academy.
In 1803 Turner's style changed. His impressionistic Calais
Pier was criticised as being unfinished. For the next few
years he was attacked by the critics and he had difficulty selling
his paintings. One critic called Turner's landscapes "pictures
of nothing, and very alike." Turner had his supporters, including
John Ruskin, who described his paintings as "true, beautiful
and intellectual".
In 1844 Turner turned his attention to railways and painted Rain,
Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway.
J.
M. W. Turner
died at his cottage in Chelsea in 1851. He left some three hundred
paintings and nineteen thousand watercolours to the nation.
J. M. W. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway
(1844)
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