Introduction to Joseph Mallord William Turner
The artist’s portrait decorates the £20-pound calculation of the United Kingdom. The most important price of the country for modern art also bears the name Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851). The artist was first known for works that extended over glowing sunsets, dark cloud towers, and foam spray. Turner dominated the interaction of light, color, and atmosphere like no other.
Inspiration from Nature and Travel
He found a lot of artistic inspiration during the forays through nature, but also when traveling. During his life, Turner traveled over Great Britain to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany, where he was fascinated by the mighty Rhine river. The landscapes he painted there also aroused the British wish to travel and made the Rhineland a popular travel destination. Today Turner is considered one of the fathers of Rheinromatik.
Artistic Style and Development
Turner’s artistic style developed in accordance with his changed view of the city. His landscape paintings were increasingly blurred, mystical, and flooded with light. He used light to create atmosphere like few others. "Light is color," said Turner as early as 1818. It is said that Turner made studio attendants wait in the dark before visiting his exhibition so that they were more aware of the effects of light in his works.
Who was William Turner?
Turner was born on April 23, 1775, in London and grew up during the industrial revolution, which was associated with a great economic and social upheaval. He produced his first landscape sketches at the age of twelve. His father, a hairdresser and a Perlustrier of Trade, recognized his talent and put his son’s paintings for sale in his shop. This was another reason why Turner’s artistic career started quickly. At the age of only 14 years, Turner joined the Royal Academy of Art in London as a student, where he initially mainly painted watercolors. He would later teach as a professor of perspective.
A Different Kind of Historical Painting
Turner’s paintings not only showed nature, he also portrayed contemporary events and paints technological achievements unusual for the romantic era such as locomotives and steamships that fought against the forces of nature. Historical and mythical events also found a place in his paintings – albeit in unusual stagings. Turner’s later works became more and more unconventional and met with great incomprehension.
Legacy and Impact
In 1842 the Royal Academy showed the painting "Snow Storm steamboat in front of the mouth of a port", one of his most famous works that fight a steamship against the elements. Some critics described it as "Soapsuds and Whitewash". The painter and art critic John Ruskin said that it was "one of the greatest statements of sea movement, fog, and light that was ever put on canvas". It was precisely this almost abstract style, for which gymnast was criticized at that time, but the later impressionists such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissaro inspired. Today, 250 years since his birth, Turner is considered the father of impressionism, an unconventional pioneer of modernity, and even as a forerunner of abstract art.
