Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in London, in the working-class district of Covent Garden, probably on 23 April 1775. His father kept a barber’s and wig-maker’s shop there. In 1789, at just 14, Turner entered the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited there from the following year, first watercolours, then in 1796 his first major oil painting, a seascape entitled Fishermen at Sea.
His rise was meteoric. He became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1799, then a full Academician at only 27: the second youngest artist to receive this honour in the institution’s history. He was also elected Professor of Perspective there in 1807. Famous for his golden landscapes and raging seas, Turner also painted war, empire and the Industrial Revolution. His paintings often question the dangers of human ambition.
Turner died in Chelsea on 19 December 1851 and is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. He bequeathed his studio to the nation: some 300 paintings and more than 30,000 works on paper, known as the “Turner Bequest”. His work on light inspired the early Impressionists, such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. Today, Britain’s best-known contemporary art prize, the Turner Prize, bears his name.
