A LOOK AT

JMW Turner's Paintings

a william turner biography

J. M. W. Turner neglected and even shattered the accurate portrayal of details and motionless situations that preceding generations’ masters and contemporaries still attempted in pursuit of larger subjective effects. Many of William Turner’s paintings highlighted the force of nature in ways that had not hitherto been shown.

childhood

Turner was transferred to Margate in 1786, where he attended school and began painting the village and its environment. Throughout his career, he would depict the village and its surroundings and then use those sketches to produce finished works.

early period

Turner began his career by creating architectural studies for numerous architects and eventually collaborated with a topographical draftsman.

mature period

By 1805, his oil drawings and works of art illustrated his own unique methodology to landscapes and coastlines. By his late 30s, his art had become more ethereal and brilliant.

LATE period

He drew often during his travels, and his gift included roughly 19,000 sketches from his trips. William Turner’s paintings began to become more flowing and ethereal, with fewer features.

LEGACY

The bulk of William Turner’s paintings are now housed in the Tate Britain, with the National Gallery owning a few of noteworthy works. Turner’s effect on artists has been felt for more than two hundred years.

IMPORTANT WILLIAM TURNER PAINTINGS

Dutch Boats on a Gale (1801)

Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (1812)

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (1834)

The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up (1839)

Slave Ship (1840)

Light and Color (Goethe’s Theory) (1843)