Turner was born in London on April 23, 1775, and educated at the Royal Academy of Arts. Turner traveled widely throughout his career. In 1807 Turner became professor of perspective at the Royal Academy. Turner's early paintings were predominantly watercolors and his subjects mostly landscapes. By the late 1790s he had started exhibiting his first oil paintings. His mature work falls into three periods:
First period (1800-20): Turner painted mythological and historical scenes in which the coloring was subdued and details and contours were emphasized.
Second period (1820-35): More brilliant coloring and diffusion of light. During this period he also executed a number of illustrations for books on topography and a collection of watercolors depicting Venetian scenes.
Third period (1835-45): Turner's artistic genius reached its culmination. Turner achieved a vibrant sense of force by presenting objects as indistinct masses within a glowing haze of color. Some of the forces represented are the strength of the sea and the rhythm of rain. Turner died in London on December 19, 1851.
