The Life And Masterworks Of J.m.w. Turner (pageperfect Nook Book)

At fifteen, Turner was already exhibiting View of Lambeth. He soon acquired the reputation of an immensely clever watercolourist. A disciple of Girtin and Cozens, he showed in his choice and presentation of theme a picturesque imagination which seemed to mark him out for a brilliant career as an illustrator. He travelled, first in his native land and then on several occasions in France, the Rhine Valley, Switzerland and Italy. He soon began to look beyond illustration. However, even in works in which we are tempted to see only picturesque imagination, there appears his dominant and guiding ideal of lyric landscape. His choice of a single master from the past is an eloquent witness for he studied profoundly such canvases of Claude as he could find in England, copying and imitating them with a marvellous degree of perfection. His cult for the great painter never failed. He desired his Sun Rising through Vapour and Dido Building Carthage to be placed in the National Gallery side by side with two of Claude's masterpieces. And, there, we may still see them and judge how legitimate was this proud and splendid homage. It was only in 1819 that Turner went to Italy, to go again in 1829 and 1840. Certainly Turner experienced emotions and found subjects for reverie which he later translated in terms of his own genius into symphonies of light and colour. Ardour is tempered with melancholy, as shadow strives with light. Melancholy, even as it appears in the enigmatic and profound creation of Albrecht Dürer, finds no home in Turner's protean fairyland – what place could it have in a cosmic dream? Humanity does not appear there, except perhaps as stage characters at whom we hardly glance. Turner's pictures fascinate us and yet we think of nothing precise, nothing human, only unforgettable colours and phantoms that lay hold on our imaginations. Humanity really only inspires him when linked with the idea of death – a strange death, more a lyrical dissolution – like the finale of an opera. Annotation J M W Turner was a prolific master born to a barber in Covent Garden in 1775. When he died in 1851, he left over 19,000 artworks. Selecting which to include in this book was a major feat in itself. Turner was a Romantic when it came to landscapes, with an inimitable flair for seascapes, and was a pioneer of new techniques to create tone and hue, deeply impressed by Goethe's theory of colours. It took a great art critic named John Ruskin to interpret his works in full. Turner was also a successful art gallery owner, professor of the Royal Academy and tireless traveller who invariably returned home to England laden with outstanding artworks from abroad, especially Venice. With a keen eye for dramatic angle, he also documented on canvas the Battle of Waterloo, the fire that devoured Parliament and other major historical events of his time. Today his works figure in the collections of the most famous museums in London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC The prolific master J. M. W. Turner was born in Covent Garden in 1775 and has left over 19,000 artworks that have eventually given to the fog of London its Turnerian savour. Turner was one of the most important Romantic when it came to landscapes, with an inimitable flair for seascapes, and a pioneer of mixing tone and hue.
Today his works figure in the collections of the top museums of London, New York and Washington DC. Eric Shanes. ...revised, Expanded And Updated Third Edition Of Turner/the Masterworks ..., First Published In London In 1990 -- P. 5. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 198-199).