J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner was an English painter during the Romantic Period, who specialized in water color, print making and landscape painting. He is accredited for his influential perspective on landscape paintings, as well as being regarded as a predecessor to Impressionism. At a young age, Turner showed interest in painting, shortly after, he attended art school. Within his first year he showed tremendous talent, exhibiting his first piece at the Royal Academy of Arts School. His talent was recognized at a fairly young age, which allowed Turner to have financial stability and create his art freely. Turner employed his creativity, painting pieces that centered around natural catastrophes, storms, fires, ship wrecks, and heavy atmosphere (fog, rain, intense sunlight). In general, he was known for his mastery in capturing the volatile mood and raw intensity of nature. A myth stated that Turner had himself tied to the mast of a ship during a storm to experience the "drama" and elements of the storm. Later in his life Turner began to capture more atmosphere, at times, figures in his paintings are hard to distinguish. This phase of work most likely influenced Impressionism. Following are a few of Turners works:

Turner perfected color and light, which allowed him to uniquely capture the atmosphere. His style was profound, he influenced later artists to capture the atmosphere and raw intensity of nature and light. Turner's painting style later in his life is mirror of Impressionism.