Art Friday: Joseph Mallord William Turner

 Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)

"The painter of light"

The Turner exhibition (from the Tate Gallery, London) is on its way to the National Art Gallery of Australia, opening on the 1st of June (until Septmeber 2013). I am very excited about this and will be going off to see the exhibition at some point.  He was one of my art teacher's favourite artists and would love to tell us stories about the artist and talk about his works, I always think of that teacher when I think of Turner. 

To celebrate the arrival of the Turner works I thought I would share some facts about the artist that you may not be aware of.

• Turner died on Dec. 19, 1851, and was buried as a national hero in St. Paul's Cathedral, during his life he lived a rather squalid life and considered eccentic.

• He left a fortune of more than £140, 000 to a charity for "Decayed Artists" and a vast hoard of sketches and his finest paintings, many of which he left to the nation.

• Much of Turner's life was a well-kept secret, including his relations with a widow, Sarah Danby, by whom he allegedly had two daughters.

• His mother, a schizophrenic, was locked up in Bedlam, the notorious madhouse.  His father went to live with him and devoted the rest of his life to serving as his son’s studio assistant and general agent.

• Turners father was a wig maker.

• A sickly child, Turner was sent to live with his uncle in rural England, and it was during this period that he began his artistic career.

• People thought he was mean and miserly.

• His work—initially realistic (below, 1801)—became more fluid and poetic, and is now regarded as a predecessor to Impressionism.

• Turner's painting became increasingly abstract as he strove to portray light, space, and the elemental forces of nature.

• From 1796 Turner exhibited oil paintings as well as watercolours at the Royal Academy. The first, Fishermen at Sea (1796), is a moonlight scene and was acclaimed by a contemporary critic as the work “of an original mind.” (see below)

"The fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up" (1838): This would be one painting of Turner's that most people would recognise. Turner painted this as a tribute to the passing of the sailing ship as they were being replaced by the steam-powered vessel.

Sunrise over the lake - his move into abstract painting, you can see were the Impressionists got their inspiration from.

Turner in his early years as a landscape painter "Fonthill Abbey"

This is for those of you who don't like Turner's more abstract works!!

Captureing the modern age of the steam train.

Snow storm - steam boat off a harbours mouth, 1842

Source:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner.aspx

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Turner-JMW

http://johnmcdonald.net.au/2013/j-m-w-turner-a-preview/