Joseph William Mallord Turner (1775-1851) Northern International University, The English Language Department, 2005. All rights reserved

Joseph William Mallord Turner

(1775-1851)

Northern International University, The English Language Department, 2005.

All rights reserved.

Joseph William Mallord Turner2

Joseph Mallord William TurnerBritish, 1775 - 1851Turner was born on Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, London, in 1775 (the actual day is uncertain, but Turner maintained it was Saint George's Day, 23 April), the only son of William Turner and Mary Marshall. His mother, who was mentally unstable, was committed to Bethlem asylum for the insane in 1800, and died in 1804. During his only sister's fatal illness (she died in 1786) Turner was sent to live with his mother's brother in Brentford and attended Brentford Free School; this was his only formal education. His early artistic talent was encouraged by his father, who exhibited his drawings in his shop window (the father remained a devoted supporter and, later, was his son's studio assistant and general factotum until his death in 1829). In 1789, the year of his first extant sketchbook from nature, Turner entered the Royal Academy Schools, also working at about this time in the studio of the architectural draftsman and topographer Thomas Malton. He exhibited his first watercolor at the Royal Academy in 1790 and his first oil in 1796; thereafter he exhibited nearly every year until a year before his death. He stayed with his father's friend, John Narraway, in Bristol in 1791, and from then on until the end of the Napoleonic Wars made frequent summer sketching tours in various parts of Britain. In 1794 he published his first two engravings, and in 1798 began drawings for The Oxford Almanack. Probably beginning in 1794 he worked for three years at Dr. Monro's evening "academy" in the company of Thomas Girtin, Edward Dayes, and others. Turner's precocity led to his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1799, and to full Academicianship in 1802. He revered the Academy all his life, was assiduous as a member of the council and hanging committee and as auditor of the accounts, and was proud to be appointed its professor of perspective in 1807, from 1811 until 1828 giving lectures that ranged widely over the problems of landscape painting. He moved from Maiden Lane to lodgings on Harley Street in 1799, opening his own gallery in contiguous premises on Queen Anne Street in 1804; this he enlarged between 1819 and 1822. In 1805 he took a house at Isleworth, keeping a second home on the riverside at intervals for the rest of his life (Upper Mall, Hammersmith, from 1806 to 1811; Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham, from 1813 to about 1825; Cheyne Walk, from about 1846 onward). Turner made his first journey abroad in 1802, traveling through France to Switzerland, and studying in the Louvre on his return. In 1817 he visited the Low Countries and subsequently traveled more frequently on the Continent (until 1845), less frequently in the British Isles (until 1831). Between 1819 and 1820 he paid his first visit to Italy, staying principally in Venice and Rome; he revisited Venice in 1833, 1835 (probably), and 1840. He worked continuously for the publishers of illustrated books; his illustrations appeared at intervals between 1827 and 1835. Turner made his reputation as a topographical watercolorist, sketching from nature, mainly in pencil, the sketches serving as a repository of ideas of which he might make use months or even years afterward. He was determined to raise landscape painting to the level of ideal art, closer in the hierarchy of genres to history painting, and he experimented first in watercolor then in oils with many new techniques. For some twenty years, from about 1798, he maintained a liaison with Sarah Danby, with whom he had two daughters, but he never married. In old age, following the death of his father and close friends, he became increasingly pessimistic and morose, allowed the house and picture gallery on Queen Anne Street to become dilapidated, and finally lived largely in his cottage on Cheyne Walk, cared for by his housekeeper, Mrs. Booth. There he died on 19 December 1851. He was buried in Saint Paul's Cathedral, London. [This is an edited version of the artist's biography published, or to be published, in the NGA Systematic Catalogue]

Joseph William Mallord Turner3Fishermen at Sea 1696Fishermen at Sea 1696

Tate Gallery. LondonTate Gallery. London

Joseph William Mallord Turner4Chapel 1796Chapel 1796

Joseph William Mallord Turner5Self-portrait ab. 1798Self-portrait ab. 1798

Joseph William Mallord Turner6Jezioro Buttermere 1798Jezioro Buttermere 1798


Windsor castle from the Meadow ab. 1807Windsor castle from the Meadow ab. 1807


Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps. 1812Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps. 1812

Tate Gallery, London.Tate Gallery, London.

Joseph William Mallord Turner9Vesuvius 1817Vesuvius 1817

Birkenhead, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum.Birkenhead, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum.

Joseph William Mallord Turner10Venice Sunrise 1819Venice Sunrise 1819


Arundal Castle, with Rainbow 1824Arundal Castle, with Rainbow 1824

British Museum, London.British Museum, London.


Mortlake Terrace. 1827Mortlake Terrace. 1827

National gallery of Art, New York.National gallery of Art, New York.


Alnwick castle,Northumberland 1825-1828Alnwick castle,Northumberland 1825-1828

National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Joseph William Mallord Turner14Chichester Canal 1828Chichester Canal 1828

Tate Gallery, LondonTate Gallery, London

Joseph William Mallord Turner15Bedroom ab. 1830-1831Bedroom ab. 1830-1831

Joseph William Mallord Turner16 Music Room 1830-1835Music Room 1830-1835

Joseph William Mallord Turner17Staffa, Fingal’s Cave. 1832Staffa, Fingal’s Cave. 1832

Yale Centre for British Art, New Heaven.Yale Centre for British Art, New Heaven.


Durham Cathedral 1835Durham Cathedral 1835

Reproduced by kind permision of National gallery of ScotlandReproduced by kind permision of National gallery of Scotland

Joseph William Mallord Turner19Venice Sunset 1835Venice Sunset 1835

Joseph William Mallord Turner20The Grand Canal in Venice 1835The Grand Canal in Venice 1835

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Joseph William Mallord Turner21Fire in Parliament 1835Fire in Parliament 1835


Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight. 1835Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight. 1835


23W. Turner at Exhibition Opening Day 1836 W. Turner at Exhibition Opening Day 1836

Joseph William Mallord Turner24Flint Castle 1838Flint Castle 1838

Private collection, Japan.Private collection, Japan.

Joseph William Mallord Turner25Ocean Fish drawing 1839Ocean Fish drawing 1839

Joseph William Mallord Turner26Mountain Pink 1840 Mountain Pink 1840

Joseph William Mallord Turner27Light and Colour Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory)(Goethe’s Theory) - the Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis. 1843 - the Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis. 1843

Tate Gallery, London.Tate Gallery, London.


The Evening of the Deluge. 1843The Evening of the Deluge. 1843



The Lake of Zug. 1843The Lake of Zug. 1843

New York.New York.


The Doganna and Santa Maria della Salute. Venice. 1843The Doganna and Santa Maria della Salute. Venice. 1843


Joseph William Mallord Turner31Rain, Steam, and Speed. The Great Western Railway. 1844Rain, Steam, and Speed. The Great Western Railway. 1844

The National Gallery of London.The National Gallery of London.


Try and answer the following questions:

Why do some pieces have two names, like “Light and Colour, Cannibal… ?

Why is “Light and Colour” in the first place, and the object indication itself is in the second?

Compare the pieces “Venice Sunrise” (10) and “Venice Sunset” (19), “The Morning after the Deluge” (27) and “The Evening of the Deluge” (28).

Why are the paintings often indistinct? What emotions are produced in the works and by what means? Could you distinguish Turner’s brush from Constable’s? How? What can you say of the subject matters of the two painters?

Which canvas did you like best? Why?

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Joseph William Mallord Turner (1775-1851) Northern International University, The English Language Department, 2005. All rights reserved