JMW Turner
Artist (1775–1851)
Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in London to a barber and wig maker. At the age of ten, he was sent to stay with a maternal uncle in Brentford where he first developed an interest in art and produced many drawings which his father displayed in the window of his shop. At 14, Turner entered the Royal Academy of Art schools and was accepted by the academy the next year. He at first interested himself in architecture but was encouraged to paint by the architect Thomas Hardwick. He exhibited a watercolor at the academy in 1790 and his first oil in 1796; he would continue to exhibit at the academy nearly every year for the rest of his life. Turner’s work passed through several phases, from the more exact and clear realism of Tintern Abbey (1795), to the expressive and indistinct Fighting Temeraire (1839), to the impressionistic, almost abstract Rain, Steam and Speed (1844). He was a prolific artist, producing such works as Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus and Bay of Baiae. Upon his death, Turner left a fortune that he hoped would go to poor artists, while he intended his paintings to go to the British nation. Neither wish was fully realized, but his works remain a legacy and great influence. |
