FREE ESSAY ON JOSEPH TURNER

JOSEPH TURNER

Turner, Joseph Mallord William (1775-1851), English landscape painter, renowned for his
vibrant and dramatic treatment of natural light and atmospheric effects in land and
marine subjects, and whose work had a direct influence on the development of
impressionism. Turner was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts. At the
age of 15 he exhibited his first watercolor at the academy. He would continue to show his
work there until 1850. He was elected an associate of the academy in 1799 and a full
member three years later. He traveled widely throughout his career, extensively touring
England and Scotland and later France, Switzerland, and Italy. In 1807 he became
professor of perspective at the Royal Academy and in 1845 he was appointed deputy
president.
Turner's early paintings were predominantly watercolors of landscapes. By the late 1790s
he had begun exhibiting oil paintings, eventually transferring to his oils the same
vibrancy of color that had proved so successful in his watercolors. His mature work falls
into three periods.
Turner's first period (1800-1820) is marked by mythological and historical scenes in
which the coloring is subdued and details and contours are emphasized. These works show
the influence of 17th-century French landscape painter Claude Lorrain, notably in the use
of atmospheric effects, as in The Sun Rising Through Vapor. During this period Turner
also produced numerous engravings for his unfinished collection Liber Studiorum
(1806-1819).
The paintings of his second period (1820-1835) are characterized by more brilliant
coloring and by diffusion of light. In two of Turner's best works, The Bay of Baiae-with
Apollo and the Sibyl. his use of light lends radiance to the colors and softens
architectural and topographical forms and shadows. During this period Turner also
executed a number of illustrations for books on topography and a collection of
watercolors depicting Venetian scenes.