Years of Formative Experience
Years of Formative Experience
On April 23, 1775, Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in Covent Garden, London, England. Turner's father, a barber and wig manufacturer, supported his family through his wife's mental illness, compounded by Turner's younger sister's death in 1786.
Places of Residence
In 1785, Turner was relocated to Brentford to live with an uncle, but he returned to Covent Garden before the decade's end. However, he was always eager to return to his birthplace.
Artistic Career
Despite his lack of formal education, Turner was a skilled artist, and by the age of 13, he was selling sketches shown in his father's store. Turner was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts in late 1789 and allowed to exhibit his work in the Royal Academy Exhibition the following year.
Career Growth
In the Arts, Success and Innovation
The Royal Society of Arts awarded the 17-year-old the "Great Silver Pallet" for landscape drawing in 1793.
The Powerful Impact
Turner swiftly earned a steady income by, among other things, selling ideas to engravers, colouring sketches, and providing private lessons. He was influenced by artists like Thomas Gainsborough, Henry Fuseli, Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, Michael Angelo Rooker, and Richard Wilson.
Gaining Impressions
Turner began travelling extensively around Europe, with his visits to Venice being particularly memorable. His early work reflected his expertise as a topographic draftsman and resulted in realistic landscape depictions, but he eventually established his style.
The Second Name
He was known as the " Painter of Light " for his use of bright colours to create settings of light images; he was known as the "Painter of Light." His watercolours, oil paintings, and engravings are regarded as the forerunners of Impressionism today.
The Master's Odds
Turner joined the Royal Academy of Arts in 1807 as a professor of perspective, where he lectured until 1828. He became increasingly eccentric and reclusive, avoiding contact with virtually everyone but his father, and was incensed when Queen Victoria refused to knight him. Turner continued to hold shows but reluctantly sold his paintings, each of which sent him into deep despair. Despite his unusual behaviour, Turner continued to create notable works of art. Despite being best known for his oil paintings, he is recognized as one of the English watercolour landscape painting founders.
Acclaimed Creations
His most known works are Dido Building Carthage (1815), The Grand Canal, Venice (1835), Peace - Burial at Sea (1842), and Rain, Steam, and Speed (1844). Turner's works were shown for the final time in 1850. Throughout his career, he created thousands of pieces, with about 2,000 paintings sold to private collectors. In addition, he created over 19,000 drawings and sketches. And these works, together with more than 300 masterpieces, including unaccomplished oil painting, were left behind.