Joseph Mallord William Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 23, 1775, in London, England, to a barber and wig maker father and a mother from a family of butchers. He had a younger sister who died in childhood. His mother suffered from mental illness and was admitted to a hospital in 1799. Turner was sent to live with his uncle in Brentford, where he developed his interest in painting. He exhibited and sold some of his drawings at his father's shop and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 14. He studied drawing from plaster casts and nude models and also worked as an architectural draftsman. Turner began to exhibit oil paintings and watercolours at the Royal Academy from 1796 and earned a steady income from commissions and sales. He opened his own gallery in 1804 and became a professor of perspective at the academy in 1807. He travelled extensively around Europe, especially to Switzerland, France and Italy, where he was inspired by the landscapes, the light and the art. He returned to Venice several times and produced some of his most remarkable paintings there. He also visited Scotland and Wales and painted many scenes of British scenery. Turner was a prolific and innovative artist who experimented with colour, light and atmosphere in his paintings. He is regarded as one of the greatest landscape painters of all time and a precursor of Impressionism. He painted a variety of subjects, including historical events, mythology, seascapes, storms, fires and sunsets. Some of his most famous works include The Fighting Temeraire (1839), Rain, Steam and Speed (1844), Snow Storm (1842) and The Slave Ship (1840). He also made many engravings and watercolours that were widely admired for their delicacy and brilliance. Turner was a private, eccentric and reclusive person who avoided fame and social contact. He did not marry but had two daughters by his housekeeper Sarah Danby, whom he never acknowledged publicly. He became more pessimistic and morose as he grew older, especially after the death of his father in 1829. His art also became more abstract and expressive, which puzzled and alienated many of his contemporaries. He lived in squalor and poor health from 1845 until his death in 1851 from cholera. He left behind a large collection of paintings and sketches that he bequeathed to the nation. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London.