John Mallord William Turner is now considered a leader of the British art canon and an essential painter in Western art history, but his work startled critics and the public when he first presented it. In an age of carefully finished detail laid with invisible brushstrokes, Turner's adventurous colours and bold gestural painting shocked his audience...and would delight future generations.
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| The Fighting Temeraire, 1839 |
Turner's painting era fell in the time of the Romantics, but his work predated many famous "isms" we learned in art school. His observation and innovative expression of light and colour predicted the Impressionist movement.
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| Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight, 1835 |
His depictions of suffering during war and the slave trade (Turner was anti-slavery) move his work closer to Social Realism than the nationalistic and imperialistic art of the time.
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| The Slave Ship, 1840. |
In later life, his painting became even more abstract, to derision from his peers. There were even cartoons depicting his "painting technique" - a mop and bucket.
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| Cartoon from Almanack of the Month, 1846 Source: Getty Museum Blog |
But contrary to his popular image Turner was highly meticulous in his work. His engravings show the misty outlines of his paintings, but rendered in tiny hair-thin strokes.
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| Lancaster, from the Aqueduct Bridge, c.1838 |
Turner's specialty was the sublime - paintings that showed the power and awesomeness of nature and our helplessness against it. His travelling experience helped him express the terror of hurricanes and the sea.
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| The Shipwreck of the Minotaur, c.1810 |
His mastery of colour created effective contrasts, like this simple scene of a kiln against a moonlit landscape. The industrial firelight radiates against the cool silver light of nature, an illustration of modern technology set against the backdrop of earth and sea.
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| Llanstephan Castle by Moonlight, 1795 |
Turner was a master of the elements, especially of the fluid boundaries between water, air, and fire. Many of his paintings show all three, in his distinctive technique. The water reflections and misty light are so real viewers can almost see the steam condense off the painting.
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| Peace: Burial at Sea, 1842 |
It all comes together to create Turner's world of restless seas, shifting winds, steam and smoke. The legendary painter immerses us in a pure moment that captures the sensation of Britain at the height of its fame and power, with all the beauty, prosperity and corruption that defined it.
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| Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844 |
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