William Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known contemporarily as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.

Turner's talent was recognised early in his life. Financial independence allowed him to innovate freely and his mature work is characterised by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint.

Turner's imagination was sparked by shipwrecks, fires (including the burning of Parliament in 1834, an event which he witnessed first-hand, and transcribed in a series of watercolour sketches), and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power of the sea, as seen in "Dawn after the Wreck" (1840) and "The Slave Ship" (1840).