English born Joseph Mallord William Turner was one of very few artists to enjoy success throughout his career. Producing notable works at the early age of 13, his father apprenticed him to the water-colourist Thomas Malton, before he enrolled at the Royal Academy to study painting. With his works being exhibited whilst he was still a teenager, Turner was only 27 when he received the honour of becoming a full Academician at the Royal Academy. He went on to win praise as one of the finest landscape artists of all time, producing nearly 20,000 works of which many are now considered masterpieces. Commendations in his own lifetime came from John Constable among others so his reputation as a leading artist was sealed from the start.

In 1794 Turner was commissioned to produce a sequence of watercolours based on J.R. Cozen’s travel sketches. Rather than exact reproduction, Turner took a more instinctive approach, as can be seen in Lake of Klontal. Later works such as Wreck of a Transport Ship demonstrate a more established Romantic style. His first oil painting, Bridgewater Sea Piece was exhibited at the Royal Academy and he went on to produce the highly celebrated Norham Castle later that year. Travel offered further inspiration behind the artist’s work and from 1802 to 1819 his first trips abroad led to works depicting Alpine landscape and Venice scenes, interpreting everything he saw through the effects of lighting and weather.
Throughout the 1830s Turner’s work became less constrained to detail as it started to embrace the concepts of light and colour, with the consequence that landscapes became intrinsically linked to the affects of weather on sea and sky. His style moved towards abstraction in order to fully investigate the force and beauty of nature, as can be seen in Rainbow over Loch Awe, Sunset and The Burning of the Houses of Parliament.

In later years Turner became evermore reclusive, and although he continued to exhibit his works he could rarely be persuaded to sell any of them. His last exhibition was held in 1850 and not long afterwards he went missing for several months. His housekeeper eventually found him, ill and hiding in a house in Chelsea. He died the next day.

Despite his reputation for oils, Turner is also perceived as a pioneer of English watercolour landscape painting. His most renowned works include Dido Building Carthage, Rain, Steam and Speed, and The Grand Canal, Venice.