William Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner ( J. M. W Turner) was a English Landscape painter, printmaker and a watercolourists. He is considered a prominent part of the Romantic age around Europe. While He lived Turner was a controversial figure, but is now seen as the artist who made landscape painting such a large part of art. One thing that separated Turner was that he was successful throughout his career.

Commissioned and acquired several of these, which he rightly considered to be the greatest watercolours by Turner, and therefore the most wonderful of all English watercolours (2000: 9 Herrmann)

When Turner died he left behind a large legacy that cemented his place in the Romantic age and how it has influenced art today. When Turner passed away at the age of 76, he left a small fortune behind to support artists like him. He also gave money to The Royal Academy of Arts, which today's gives out 'The Turner Medal' to its deserving students.

In 1974, an American named Douglass Montrose-Gream opened a museum in the USA to house all pieces of art that he had gathered over the years.

In 1984, a very prestigious annual art award called 'The Turner Prize' was named after him and 20 years after that it was renamed to 'Winsor & Newton Turner Watercolour Award.

In 2005, the BBC held a public poll to find 'Britain's greatest painting' and 'The Fighting Temeraire' by Turner was voted into the number one slot.

At this current time, there is a museum being built in Margate to celebrate Turners connection to the town.

His reputation as one of the most important British painters ever is both deserved and justifiable. Landscape and maritime art have gained respect due almost single handedly to his work. He remains a towering figure in British art even 150+ years after his death and a visionary who bridged the gap between "traditional" art and Modernism.

Turner was considered as 'the painter of light' due to the way he encapsulated the sunlight and how it affected his image. This technique is still used today by artists and it was pioneered by Turner. If not invented, then at least made popular.


Perhaps Turners most important influence on today's society is just how popular he is. With 300 Oil Paintings and 20,000 works on paper under his belt, to still be seen as a success and a genius in this stage of his life is incredible. Turners paintings were deemed as romantic in the time and even now they are seen as masterpieces.


Works of Turner:

Bibliography:

Alfred Lys Baldry (1923) William Turner of Oxford: water-colour painter, born 1789, died 1862 ; Liverpool ; Walker’s Galleries

Jan Morris (2001) Oxford: Oxford paperbacks ; Oxford ; Oxford University Press

Luke Herrmann/Colin Harrison/Joseph Mallord/ William Turner (2000) J.M.W Turner Issue 15 of Ashmolean handbooks ; Oxford ; Ashmolean Museum

Sam Smiles (2007) J.M.W Turner: The making of a modern artist ; Manchester ; Manchester University Press

William S. Rodner (1997) J.M.W Turner: Romantic painter of the industrial revolution ; California ; University of California Press

Anthony Bailey (1997) Standing in the sun: a life of J MW Turner ; London ; HarperCollins