John Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)

John Mallord William Turner (1775-1851). He was born in London, England, in 1775. His parents were William Turner and Mary Marshall.  His dad was a barber and a wig maker. His mother was mentally unstable. It is believed that she became this way because of his sister's premature death. His mom soon followed his sisters path five years after being committed into a mental hospital. As a boy, Turner received very little schooling. The farthest his education went was his father who taught him how to read. Other than that he only studied and practiced art. His mother dying and his dad being a wig maker? Man this isn't the typical life of your every day ordinary kid. Then again, this isn't your ordinary kid.

Turner's artistic career started at a very young age. When he was 10 years old he went to live with his uncle and this is where he started to develop his interest in the arts. A year later he began attending a school in Margate. By the age of 13, the drawings he had created at home would go on display for sale on his dad's shop window. His life was devoted entirely to his art. By the age of 15 he received a rare honor. One of his paintings was going to be exhibited at the Royal Academy. The Royal Academy of Art is a privately funded institution led by respected artists and architects. He was later accepted into the academy and after only one year of study, he exhibited his first watercolor painting in the summer exhibition. Now this is very impressive. He had only been there for one year and already he was exhibiting art work? By the age of 18 he had his own studio. Before the age of 20 he had people that made reproductions of his paintings eagerly wanting to buy them. In 1791 he exhibited his first oil painting, Fisherman at Sea, and exhibited a painting almost every year after that till his death. Unlike many artists of his era, and many artists after his era, he was successful throughout his career.

                                                                     Fishermen at Sea

• We can see how he depicts the sea's power over man. How the ocean can effortlessly throw man around like a piece of paper. In this piece man is at the mercy of the oh so powerful sea. Man, despite all of its technological advances is nothing but a speck of dust compared to the overpowering sea.

This is why he became so famous. Turner was an artist that liked to show the power of mother nature. Be it an earthquake, the power of the sea, rain, sunlight, or a building on fire. This is where he drew most of his inspiration form. Because of his incredible reputation and pieces of art work  he was seen to some as an "Art genius". When he began to tour around Europe, specifically Venice, is when he did  some of his finer work.

Later on in Turner's older years he allowed no one to watch him while he painted. The only person he let watch was his father. He stopped going to the meetings at the academy. People wouldn't see him for months. He basically isolated himself from everyone. He traveled, but only by himself. He also stopped selling most of his paintings. So his later years weren't his happiest years. He died on Dec. 19, 1851.Turner was mostly known for his oil art work, but he is regarded as one of the founders of English watercolor landscape painting. It is sad to think that such a great person that contributed so much to the artistic world had such lonely last years. Then again he always had his art, and for some people that's more than enough.


Here are some of his most famous works:

                                                         Dido Building Carthage

                                                              Rain, Steam and Speed                                                                                                                                             

                                                                        Burial at Sea 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner
www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/turner/