Turner is perhaps the best-loved English Romantic artist. He became known as 'the painter of light', because of his increasing interest in brilliant colours as the main constituent in his landscapes and seascapes. His works include water colours, oils and engravings.
Turner was born near Covent Garden in London and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1789. His earliest works form part of the 18th-century topographical tradition. He was soon inspired by 17th-century Dutch artists such as Willem van der Velde, and by the Italianate landscapes of Claude and Richard Wilson.
He exhibited watercolours at the Royal Academy from 1790, and oils from 1796. In 1840 he met the critic John Ruskin, who became the great champion of his work.
Turner became interested in contemporary technology, as can be seen from 'The Fighting Temeraire' and 'Rain, Steam and Speed'. At the time his free, expressive treatment of these subjects was criticised, but it is now widely appreciated.
Turner bequeathed much of his work to the nation. The great majority of the paintings are now at Tate Britain.
This person is the subject of ongoing research. We have started by researching their relationship to the enslavement of people.
M. Czubińska, Turner: malrz żywiołów: przewodnik (exh. cat., Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg; Muzeum Narodowe, Cracow; Turner Contemporary, Margate), Kraków 2011
L. Herrmann, 'Turner, Joseph Mallord William', in C. Matthew et al. (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford 1992-, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/27854
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History of Parliament Trust (ed.), The History of Parliament: British Political, Social & Local History, London 1964-, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/
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J. Lewison, Turner Monet Twombly: Later Paintings (exh. cat., Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Staatsgalerie, Stuttgard; Tate, Liverpool), London 2011
I. Richter-Musso and O. Westheider, Turner and the Elements (exh. cat., Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg; Muzeum Narodowe, Cracow; Turner Contemporary, Margate), Munich 2011
D.H. Solkin (ed.), Turner and the Masters (exh. cat., Tate Britain, London; Galeries nationaux du Grand Palais, Paris; Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid), London and New York 2009
D.H. Solkin (ed.), Turner et ses peintres (exh. cat., Tate Britain, London; Galeries nationales, Grand Palais, Paris; Museo nacional del Prado, Madrid) 2010
D.H. Solkin (ed.), Turner y los mastros (exh. cat., Tate Britain, London; Galeries nationaux du Grand Palais, Paris; Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid), Madrid 2010
UCL Department of History (ed.), Legacies of British Slave-ownership, London 2020, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/
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I. Warrell, Turner Inspired: in the Light of Claude (exh. cat., The National Gallery, London), London 2012
O. Westheider and M. Philipp (eds.), Turner: malarz żywiołów (exh. cat., Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg; Muzeum Narodowe, Cracow; Turner Contemporary, Margate), Kraków 2011
A. Wilton, 'Turner, J(oseph) M(allord) W(illiam) ', in J. Turner et al. (eds), Grove Art Online, Oxford 1998-, https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T086656
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