J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner, born on April 23, 1775, in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, emerged as a pivotal figure in the English Romantic movement. Known simply as William Turner during his lifetime, he was a painter, printmaker, and watercolourist whose works are celebrated for their expressive use of color and imaginative landscapes. His turbulent marine paintings, often characterized by their dramatic and violent depictions, set him apart as a visionary artist.

Turner's artistic journey began at a young age; he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Arts at just fourteen and exhibited his first work by the age of fifteen. His career flourished as he became an architectural draftsman and later opened his own gallery in 1804. By 1807, he was appointed professor of perspective at the Academy, a position he held until 1828. Throughout his life, he traveled extensively across Europe, returning with numerous sketchbooks that would inform his later masterpieces.

Despite his success, Turner remained intensely private and eccentric, often shunning the trappings of fame. He fathered two daughters, Evelina and Georgiana, with Sarah Danby, a widow, but never married. As he aged, his outlook darkened, particularly following the death of his father in 1829. This shift in perspective led to a decline in the condition of his gallery and an intensification of his artistic expression. In a notable act of reclusiveness, he even rowed a boat into the Thames to avoid being counted in the 1841 census.

Turner's later years were marked by poor health and squalor, yet his artistic output remained prolific, leaving behind over five hundred oil paintings, two thousand watercolours, and thirty thousand works on paper. He passed away in London on December 19, 1851, at the age of seventy-six, and was laid to rest in St Paul's Cathedral. Today, he is revered as one of the greatest painters in English history, with art historian Kenneth Clark declaring him a genius of the first order.