Editing J. M. W. Turner (section)

== Art ==
=== Style ===
Turner's talent was recognised early in his life. Financial independence allowed Turner to innovate freely; his mature work is characterized by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint. According to David Piper's ''The Illustrated History of Art'', his later pictures were called "fantastic puzzles". Turner was recognised as an artistic genius; the English art critic [[John Ruskin]] described him as the artist who could most "stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature".<ref name=piper>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated History of Art|first=David |last=Piper|publisher=Bounty Books|date=2004|isbn= 978-0753709696|page=321}}</ref>

[[File:J.M.W. Turner's Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water.jpg|thumb|left|261x261px|''Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water'', 1840, [[Clark Art Institute]], [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]]]]

Turner's imagination was sparked by shipwrecks, fires (including the [[burning of Parliament]] in 1834, an event which Turner 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 at the 1840 Royal Academy of Arts exhibition, where ''[[The Slave Ship]]'' (1840), and ''Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water'' (1840) were first shown. A 2003 exhibition at the [[Clark Art Institute]] suggested these two paintings were pendants, due in part to their similar content and size.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=James |title=Turner: the late seascapes [exhibition, Sterling and Francine Clark art institute, Williamstown, Mass., 14 June - 7 September 2003, Manchester art gallery, Manchester, England, 31 October 2003 - 25 January 2004, Burrell collection, Glasgow, Scotland, 19 February - 23 May 2004] |date=2003 |publisher=Yale university press Sterling and Francine Clark art institute |isbn=978-0-300-09900-3 |location=New Haven London Williamstown (Mass.)}}</ref>

Turner's work drew criticism from contemporaries. An anonymous review of the 1840 Royal Academy exhibition, later identified as [[John Eagles]], called the displayed paintings “absurd extravagances [that] disgrace the Exhibition”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=James |title=Turner: the late seascapes [exhibition, Sterling and Francine Clark art institute, Williamstown, Mass., 14 June - 7 September 2003, Manchester art gallery, Manchester, England, 31 October 2003 - 25 January 2004, Burrell collection, Glasgow, Scotland, 19 February - 23 May 2004] |date=2003 |publisher=Yale university press Sterling and Francine Clark art institute |isbn=978-0-300-09900-3 |location=New Haven London Williamstown (Mass.)}}</ref> [[Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet|Sir George Beaumont]], a landscape painter and fellow member of the Royal Academy, described his paintings as "blots".<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Gerald |title=The Sketches of Turner, R.A. |date=1974 |publisher=Barrie & Jenkins |location=London}}</ref>

Turner's major venture into printmaking was the ''[[Liber Studiorum]]'' (Book of Studies), seventy prints that he worked on from 1806 to 1819. The ''Liber Studiorum'' was an expression of his intentions for landscape art. The idea was loosely based on [[Claude Lorrain]]'s ''[[Liber Veritatis]]'' (Book of Truth), where Claude had recorded his completed paintings; a series of print copies of these drawings, by then at [[Devonshire House]], had been a huge publishing success.  Turner's plates were meant to be widely disseminated, and categorised the genre into six types: Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, Historical, Architectural, and Elevated or Epic Pastoral.<ref name=blayney/> His printmaking was a major part of his output, and a museum is devoted to it, the Turner Museum in [[Sarasota, Florida|Sarasota]], Florida, founded in 1974 by Douglass Montrose-Graem to house his collection of Turner prints.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turnermuseum.org |title=The Turner Museum |publisher=The Turner Museum and Thomas Moran Galleries |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216031921/http://www.turnermuseum.org/ |archive-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

His early works, such as ''[[:File:Turner Tintern1.jpg|Tintern Abbey]]'' (1795), stay true to the traditions of English landscape. In ''[[Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps|Hannibal Crossing the Alps]]'' (1812), an emphasis on the destructive power of nature has already come into play. His distinctive style of painting, in which he used watercolour technique with oil paints, created lightness, fluency, and ephemeral atmospheric effects.<ref name=piper/>

In Turner's later years, he used oils ever more transparently and turned to an evocation of almost pure light by use of shimmering colour. A prime example of his mature style can be seen in ''[[Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway]]'', where the objects are barely recognisable. The intensity of hue and interest in evanescent light not only placed Turner's work in the vanguard of English painting but exerted an influence on art in France; the [[Impressionism|Impressionists]], particularly [[Claude Monet]], carefully studied his techniques. He is also generally regarded as a precursor of abstract painting.

High levels of volcanic ash (from the eruption of [[Mount Tambora]]) in the atmosphere during 1816, the "[[Year Without a Summer]]", led to unusually spectacular sunsets during this period, and were an inspiration for some of Turner's work.

John Ruskin said that an early patron, [[Thomas Monro (art collector)|Thomas Monro]], Principal Physician of [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam]], and a collector and amateur artist, was a significant influence on Turner's style:

<blockquote>His true master was Dr Monro; to the practical teaching of that first patron and the wise simplicity of method of watercolour study, in which he was disciplined by him and companioned by his friend [[Thomas Girtin|Girtin]], the healthy and constant development of the greater power is primarily to be attributed; the greatness of the power itself, it is impossible to over-estimate.</blockquote>

Together with a number of young artists, Turner was able, in Monro's London house, to copy works of the major topographical draughtsmen of his time and perfect his skills in drawing. But the curious atmospherical effects and illusions of [[John Robert Cozens]]'s watercolours, some of which were present in Monro's house, went far further than the neat renderings of topography. The solemn grandeur of his Alpine views were an early revelation to the young Turner and showed him the true potential of the watercolour medium, conveying mood instead of information.

=== Materials ===
Turner experimented with a wide variety of pigments.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Townsend|first=Joyce H.|date=1993|title=The Materials of J. M. W. Turner: Pigments|jstor=1506368|journal=Studies in Conservation|volume=38|issue=4|pages=231–254|doi=10.2307/1506368}}</ref> He used formulations like [[carmine]], despite knowing that they were not long-lasting, and against the advice of contemporary experts to use more durable pigments. As a result, many of his colours have now faded. Ruskin complained at how quickly his work decayed; Turner was indifferent to posterity and chose materials that looked good when freshly applied.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w486V_or5P8C&q=turner+|title=Color: A Natural History of the Palette|last=Finlay|first=Victoria|publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks|year=2004|isbn=0-8129-7142-6|pages=134–135}} {{subscription required|s}}</ref> By 1930, there was concern that both his oils and his watercolours were fading.<ref name="perth">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83121606|title=Colors That Fade: Turner's Masterpieces: Can his works be saved?|date=9 January 1930|work=[[The Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]]|page=2|access-date=18 May 2014}}</ref>

===Gallery===
{{gallery
|height=150 <!--landscape-->
|mode=packed <!--use same height-->
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Fisherman's Cottage, Dover - Google Art Project.jpg|''Fisherman's Cottage, Dover'', 1790 [[Yale Center for British Art]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Clare Hall and King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, from the Banks of the River Cam - Google Art Project.jpg|''Clare Hall and [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]] Chapel, Cambridge, from the Banks of the River Cam'', 1793, watercolour{{efn|Referring to the present-day [[Clare College, Cambridge|Clare College]], formerly named Clare Hall, and not the present-day [[Clare Hall, Cambridge|Clare Hall]]|}}, [[Yale Center for British Art]]|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Angler - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Angler'', 1794, [[Yale Center for British Art]]
|File:(Barcelona) Morning amongst the Coniston Fells, Cumberland - William Turner - Tate Britain.jpg|''[[Morning amongst the Coniston Fells, Cumberland|Morning Amongst the Coniston Fells]]'', 1798, [[Tate Britain]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Dutch Boats in a Gale - WGA23163.jpg|''[[Dutch Boats in a Gale]]'', 1801, oil on canvas
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner 024.jpg|''[[Calais Pier]]'', 1803, oil on canvas, [[National Gallery]], London
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - London from Greenwich Park - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[London from Greenwich Park]]'', 1809, oil on canvas, [[Tate Britain]]
|File:Saltash with the Water Ferry, Cornwall MET DP169566.jpg|''[[Saltash with the Water Ferry]]'', 1811, oil on canvas, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner 081.jpg|''[[Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps]]'', 1812, oil on canvas, [[Tate Britain]]
|File:DortorDordrecht.jpg|''[[Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort packet-boat from Rotterdam becalmed]]'', 1818, oil on canvas, [[Yale Center for British Art]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) - The Field of Waterloo - NG500 - Tate.jpg|''[[The Field of Waterloo (painting)|The Field of Waterloo]]'', 1818, [[Tate Britain]]
|File:Turner Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet-Boat, Evening.jpg|''[[Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet Boat in the Evening]]'', 1826, [[Frick Collection]]
|File:Venice - The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1834, oil on canvas, view 2 - National Gallery of Art, Washington - DSC00005.JPG|''[[Venice: The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore]]'', {{circa}} 1834, [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834 - 1942.647 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg |''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834'', oil on canvas, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner, English - The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons|The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834]]'', {{circa}} 1835, oil on canvas, [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]
|File:Wreckers Coast of Northumberland Joseph Mallord William Turner.jpeg|''Wreckers Coast of Northumberland'', {{circa}} 1836, oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art
|File:Chicago art inst turner vallee aoste.JPG|''Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm, Avalanche and Thunderstorm'', 1836–37, oil on canvas, [[Art Institute of Chicago]]
|File:The Fighting Temeraire, JMW Turner, National Gallery.jpg|''[[The Fighting Temeraire]] tugged to her last berth to be broken up'', 1838, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London
|File:Slave-ship.jpg|''[[The Slave Ship]]'', 1840, oil on canvas, [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth - WGA23178.jpg|''[[Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth]]'', {{circa}} 1842, oil on canvas, Tate Britain
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Evening of the Deluge, c. 1843, NGA 46064.jpg|''The Evening of the Deluge'', {{circa}} 1843, [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.
|File:Turner - Rain, Steam and Speed - National Gallery file.jpg|''[[Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway]]'', 1844, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Norham Castle, Sunrise - WGA23182.jpg|''[[Norham Castle, Sunrise]]'', {{circa}} 1845, oil on canvas, Tate Britain  
|File:Turner - The Wreck Buoy, c.1849, WAG 310.jpg|''The Wreck Buoy''', {{circa}} 1849, [[Sudley House]]
|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) - The Departure of the Fleet - N00554 - National Gallery.jpg|''[[The Departure of the Fleet]]'', 1850, National Gallery, London
}}