Joseph Turner biography. Artist Turner

British painter, great landscape artist - Joseph Mallord William Turner. Bright representative romanticism in painting and the forerunner of the French impressionists. It was exhibited every year at the Royal Academy.

However, many did not like Turner; he was an extremely difficult person to communicate with - he muttered, grinned, and was inappropriate. He left meetings without bothering with explanations. It is not surprising that the public wanted to make him less noticeable, although he was already short. He was too successful and at the same time just the son of a barber, too humble a birth for such fame.

IN late period of his work, Turner switched to new level– he exalted the power of the elements, the audience did not understand this, his contemporaries were critical of his work. Society Victorian era, who preferred realism close to photography, did not see the truth in Turner’s style; his landscapes seemed primitive. Some of the artist's works, bordering on abstractionism, gave him a reputation as a madman.

One of the few who came to Turner's defense was ( John Ruskin) – a theorist who had a great influence on the development of art history of the second half of the 19th century– the beginning of the 20th century, he called it “ the greatest artist of all times." Ruskin wrote a letter to the magazine, disputing negative reviews about Turner. This letter became the seed from which grew the five-volume Modern Artists, a description of art with Turner at its center.

Ruskin wrote that Turner is not vague, but realistic. Turner's landscapes do not obey the principles of Victorian art. They portray nature as a force that challenges the modern worldview. Today we call this art “romanticism”.

Turner sees stunning skies, magnificent sunrises and sunsets. He sees the rain and gusts of wind, he sees the bustle modern life. He sees the power and speed of the steam locomotives of that time - a new force generated by science. All of this has the same emotional effect. This is a big shock for a person.

Ruskin was an artist himself, but he did not consider his works to be the same art as Turner's. Turner is dramatic, full of feeling, he depicts majestic cliffs covered in fog, while Ruskin simply draws rocks. Turner painted nature, and his paintings are not just typhoons and storms, sea waves And storm clouds. These are the feelings of the observer; he wrote the very essence of nature, the power of the elements.

Turner transforms what he sees. He traveled a lot, understood the structure of rocks, understood how clouds form, how the weather changes, how nature works. The artist passed all this knowledge through his soul and painted what came out. Turner wrote about the power of nature in comparison with the vulnerability of man - this pushes us to realize our place on earth. By conveying all this so vividly, Turner expressed the true purpose of art.

Art is not just a decoration of life, not a way to impress people - it is some powerful force that can change human life.

Based on materials from the BBC

We will get acquainted with the biography and work of the artist William Turner. In order to understand his life and way of thinking, let’s walk along the paths he once traversed. Let's start this acquaintance!

Childhood

William Turner was born in 1775 in Covent Garden (London). He himself wrote that his date of birth is April 23, although most researchers of his work deny this fact. His father was engaged in making wigs, and later opened his own barber shop. The boy's mother had a mental disorder, so the child was sent to Brentford to live with his uncle. WITH early age he showed interest in paintings and art.

Carier start

After completing his studies, the young man moved to London, where he worked as an apprentice with topographers and architects. It is known that he worked for Thomas Malton. At the age of 14 young guy accepted into the Royal Academy, where Reynolds was his examiner. It was he who had the greatest influence on all subsequent work of Turner. While studying at the academy, the guy read lectures from the first president of the academy on idealism in art. After just a year of training, he watercolor painting was presented at the exhibition of the Academy of Arts. In 1790, the artist got his first oil painting, which was also awarded the exhibition. Beginning in 1791, he earned money by giving private lessons. He also worked for some time at the Pantheon-Opera as a set designer.

To continually improve, William Turner studied the work of artists past and present. At first he only copied paintings famous artists, whose work seemed to him a worthy example. Thus, he learned to understand another creator and find himself in the picture. The artist's idol was Claude Lorrain. It is believed that upon seeing the work “The Departure of the Queen of Sheba,” Turner could not control himself and began to cry. When asked about such a strange reaction, he replied that he would never be able to create such a masterpiece. Many years later, the artist bequeathed “Dido, founder of Carthage” (he considered this work a masterpiece) National Gallery with the condition that it should be located next to the already mentioned painting by Claude Lorrain. Throughout his career, William Turner constantly studied the paintings of C. Lorrain.

Fame

William Turner is an artist who took a long time to achieve recognition, but found it during his lifetime. In 1791, he made a so-called study trip, which inspired him to create many paintings. After that, he travels throughout Europe, making various sketches of picturesque places. Incredibly, his legacy is about 10 thousand finished works and sketches. He turned to the latter when he worked in London. Sometimes he could paint a picture from a sketch that was several years old.

In 1799 he was invited to become a member of the Royal Academy. Two years later he demonstrates own work"The Sea at Bridgewater", which receives a lot of positive feedback. B. West even ventured to compare Turner with Rembrandt. In 1802, William became the youngest creator to be awarded the title of Royal Academician. It allowed you to demonstrate your work without waiting for approval from the review committee.

Technique

William Turner - artist with capital letters, because he adhered to the main rule creative person: Never consider yourself perfect. Thanks to this, he was able to grow professionally and develop his talent. He delved deeply into technical issues, studied the relationship between geology and architecture, the movement of water and air. At the beginning of the 19th century, he reaches a level of expressiveness and power in his paintings that is similar to oil painting. He didn't like to put too much detail into a painting because he thought it would make it boring. William Turner created his own landscape, through which he carried his experiences and his vision.

Since 1807, he held the position of professor of perspective at his native academy. The lectures he composed dealt with more wide range questions. He really loved to touch on his favorite topic - poetic painting. After visiting Italy in 1819 and studying the works of Raphael and Titian, his paintings became filled with brighter colors and his palette became bolder. The Venetian line runs like a “red thread” through his work: he literally fell in love with this city!

Paintings

He gained the greatest popularity thanks to paintings that were painted under the influence of the Napoleonic Wars (“Field of Waterloo”, “Battle of Trafalgar”). Let us list some of his most famous works: “The last voyage of the ship “Brave””, “Sunrise from sea monsters», « blizzard. Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps", "Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino" and "Rain, Steam and Speed".

Well, William Turner is an artist whose paintings are worthy of hanging next to the canvases of Claude Lorrain. He made a will that he would transfer all his paintings to the British nation. The master died in December 1851. What kind of artist was William Turner? His biography answers this question succinctly: he was a perfectionist. All his life he studied, tried to be better, more perfect!

Date of death: Citizenship:

Great Britain

Genre: Studies: Style: Notable works: Influence at: Works on Wikimedia Commons

Joseph Mallord William Turner(English) Joseph Mallord William Turner, April 23, London - December 19, London) - British painter, master of romantic landscape, watercolorist and engraver. Forerunner of the French Impressionists.

Biography

William Turner was born in late April - early May in London's Covent Garden. Turner himself called the date of his birth April 23, which, however, is disputed by a number of researchers. The artist's father, William Turner, was a wig maker, and in the late 70s. opened a barber shop. In 1785, due to the difficult situation in the family (his mother was mentally ill), Joseph William was sent to the London suburb of Brentford, where he lived with his uncle.

While still at Brentford he showed an interest in fine arts. After attending school in the late 1780s, he settled in London, where he worked for architects and surveyors, including Thomas Malton. In December 1789, 14-year-old Turner was admitted to the Royal Academy and was examined by Reynolds. At the academy, he attended the last lectures of Reynolds, who had a significant influence on Turner. IN further artist I carefully studied the entire course of lectures by the first president of the academy, dedicated to the idealistic direction in art. A year after his admission, Turner’s watercolor work was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Academy of Arts. The first oil painting to be exhibited appeared by Turner in 1790. Subsequently, Turner constantly exhibited at the Academy. From 1791 he worked as a stage designer at the Pantheon Opera on Oxford Street and earned extra money by giving lessons.

Dido, founder of Carthage, (1815)

Turner carefully studied the masters of the past and contemporary artists. Copying other people's works, he creatively reinterpreted other people's images, expressing his own vision. He was especially admired by Claude Lorrain: according to a contemporary, after seeing the painting “The Departure of the Queen of Sheba,” Turner could not help but cry. The artist explained his reaction by saying that he would never create something like that. Years later, Turner bequeathed his Dido, Founder of Carthage, which he considered an unsurpassed masterpiece, to the National Gallery with the condition that it hang next to The Departure of the Queen of Sheba. Turner carefully studied Lorrain's paintings available to him, as well as albums with engravings Liber Veritatis. Engravings were made from drawings French artist related to mature period creativity. Turner later launched the album Liber Studiorum, made in the same technique as the album of Lorrain's drawings - mezzotint. Liber Studiorum was intended for use as a textbook for beginning artists and the engravings were grouped into thematic sections - architectural, historical, pastoral (mythological and everyday) painting, sea and mountain landscapes.

Turner made his first sketch trip in 1791. Subsequently, he traveled a lot with a traveling palette and made sketches in Europe (Switzerland, the French Alps, Italy). Turner left behind more than ten thousand drawings and sketches. Materials from the travel albums served the artist as the basis for paintings and watercolors, which he worked on in London, sometimes turning to his very old sketches.

On November 4, 1799, Turner, who had by then become a popular artist, was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Academy. In 1801, he exhibited the painting “The Sea at Bridgewater” at the Academy, which was a resounding success, and the artist Benjamin West even compared Turner with Rembrandt. On February 10, 1802, Turner became the youngest artist to receive the title of Royal Academician. This title gave him the right to exhibit, bypassing the selection committee, which pre-screened all the works.

Turner constantly improved his technique, studied the connection between architecture and geology, the nature of the movement of water and air. TO early XIX century, in his watercolors he achieves the power and expressiveness usually inherent in oil painting. By discarding unnecessary detail, he created new type landscape through which the artist revealed his memories and experiences. Turner introduced images of people in scenes of walks, picnics, and field work into his paintings. Carefully and lovingly depicting a person, the artist emphasized the imperfection of his nature, his powerlessness in front of the huge world around him, sometimes calm, sometimes menacing, but always indifferent.

In 1807 Turner took up the position of professor of perspective at the Royal Academy. However, the training program he compiled covered a much wider range of issues than the study of perspective. It was a kind of adaptation of Reynolds' lecture course and addressed Turner's favorite topic - issues of “poetic painting”.

He gained particular fame thanks to his paintings dedicated to the Napoleonic Wars (“Battle of Trafalgar”, “Field of Waterloo”).

In 1819, Turner visited Italy for the first time. He visited Turin, Milan, Rome, Venice, Naples. Studied the works of Titian, Tintoretto, Raphael, contemporary Italian artists. After traveling to Italy, his painting became more vibrant, the palette intense with a predominance primary colors. Special place The Venetian theme took over the artist’s work. He visited this extraordinary city three times (in 1819, 1833, 1840), and memories of it fueled his imagination for many years.

Already in the 1800s, Turner's successes provoked criticism from the collector and artist Sir George Beaumont, who criticized the "liberties" and bright colors his paintings. Later, the artist's innovative work, anticipating the achievements of painting late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, caused mixed assessment in contemporary society. The Victorian public, who preferred realism bordering on photography, sugary sentimentalism and “harmonious” but inexpressive color scheme, many of his paintings were poorly received. In the 30s and 40s, critical attacks against Turner appeared more and more often. Some of his works, bordering on abstractionism, gave the artist a reputation as a madman. Queen Victoria refused to knight him. One of the few who came to Turner's defense was John Ruskin, who called him "the greatest artist of all time."

Heritage

According to his will, the entire collection of his works was transferred to the British nation (now exhibited in the Tate Gallery in London).

Most famous works

“The last voyage of the ship “Brave””

"Sunrise with the Sea Monsters"

- Warkworth Castle, Northumberland - Thunder Storm Approaching at Sun-Set, oil on canvas - Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory, oil on canvas - Tate Gallery, London
- Blizzard. Hannibal Crossing the Alps / Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London
- The Battle of Trafalgar, oil on canvas, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
- The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
- The Grand Canal, Venice, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken up, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

Literature

William Turner / Translation from English by A. E. Moseychenko. - M.: JSC "BMM", 2007. - 256 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-88353-278-0
S. Zuffi Large atlas of painting. - M.: Olma-Press, 2002. - P. 184-185, 242, 244-245, 300. - 431 p. - ISBN 5-224-03922-3
P. Ackroyd Turner. - M.: KoLibri, Azbuka-Atticus, 2012. - 224 p.

Links

The life and work of Joseph Turner on the Impressionist Paintings website

Categories:

Personalities in alphabetical order
Born on April 23
Born in 1775
Born in London
Died December 19
Died in 1851
Deaths in London
Artists by alphabet
UK artists
Marine painters of Great Britain
Artists of Romanticism

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Joseph Mallord William Turner (English Joseph Mallord William Turner; April 23, 1775, Covent Garden, London - December 19, 1851, Chelsea) - British painter, master of romantic landscape, watercolorist. The forerunner of the French impressionists.

William Turner was born in late April - early May 1775 in London's Covent Garden district. Turner himself called the date of his birth April 23, which, however, is disputed by a number of researchers. The artist's father, William Turner, was a wig maker, and in the late 70s. opened a barber shop. In 1785, due to the difficult situation in the family (his mother was mentally ill), Joseph William was sent to the London suburb of Brentford, where he lived with his uncle.

While still in Brentford, he developed an interest in the visual arts. After attending school in the late 1780s, he settled in London, where he worked for architects and surveyors, including Thomas Malton. In December 1789, 14-year-old Turner was admitted to the Royal Academy and was examined by Reynolds. At the academy, he attended the last lectures of Reynolds, who had a significant influence on Turner. Subsequently, the artist carefully studied the entire course of lectures by the first president of the academy, dedicated to the idealistic direction in art. A year after his admission, Turner’s watercolor work was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Academy of Arts. The first oil painting to be exhibited came from Turner in 1790. Subsequently, Turner constantly exhibited at the Academy. From 1791 he worked as a stage designer at the Pantheon Opera on Oxford Street and earned extra money by giving lessons.

Turner carefully studied the masters of the past and contemporary artists. Copying other people's works, he creatively reinterpreted other people's images, expressing his own vision. He was especially admired by Claude Lorrain: according to a contemporary, after seeing the painting “The Departure of the Queen of Sheba,” Turner could not help but cry. The artist explained his reaction by saying that he would never create something like that. Years later, Turner bequeathed his Dido, Founder of Carthage, which he considered an unsurpassed masterpiece, to the National Gallery with the condition that it hang next to The Departure of the Queen of Sheba. Turner carefully studied Lorrain's paintings available to him, as well as albums with Liber Veritatis engravings. The engravings were made from drawings by a French artist dating back to his mature period of creativity. Turner later released the album Liber Studiorum, made in the same technique as the album of Lorrain's drawings - mezzotint. Liber Studiorum was intended to be used as a textbook for beginning artists and the engravings were grouped into thematic sections - architectural, historical, pastoral (mythological and everyday) painting, sea and mountain landscapes.

Turner constantly improved his technique, studied the connection between architecture and geology, the nature of the movement of water and air. By the beginning of the 19th century, in his watercolors he achieved the power and expressiveness usually inherent in oil painting. By discarding excessive detail, he created a new type of landscape through which the artist revealed his memories and experiences. Turner introduced images of people in scenes of walks, picnics, and field work into his paintings. Carefully and lovingly depicting a person, the artist emphasized the imperfection of his nature, his powerlessness in front of the huge world around him, sometimes calm, sometimes menacing, but always indifferent.

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Joseph Mallord William Turner(English) Joseph Mallord William Turner; April 23, 1775, Covent Garden, London, England - December 19, 1851, Chelsea) - British artist, famous for his depictions of the elements, especially water, the forerunner of the Impressionists. The early Turner gave free rein to color on his canvases and made light the main character of the paintings, while the late Turner anticipated the advent of abstract painting.

Features of the artist William Turner: shining colors, preference water landscapes the land and the raging elements are calm, bringing color to the leading roles. When starting to work on a painting, Turner first of all painted the spontaneous, uncontrollable, flowing, and after that forms, boundaries appeared, and the elements took shape.

Famous paintings William Turner:"Fire in the Houses of Parliament October 16, 1834"
“Ulysses mocks Polyphemus”, “The last voyage of the frigate “Brave””, “”, “Rain, steam and speed. Great Western Railway".

There is a legend that last words Turner were: "The sun is god". The story is beautiful, although it is not possible to confirm or refute it. But is it really so important what William Turner said on his deathbed if throughout his life he confirmed that his deity was the sun?

Elemental Painter

If it were not for William Turner (eng. Joseph Mallord William Turner), there would be no impressionism, which means that in general everything would have gone differently in world painting. However, no “if” is possible. The sun, air, water and fire are the deities to which Turner dedicated his life. He also achieved considerable success in topographic painting.

He was 14 when one of his watercolors was exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was allowed free admission to the academy. By that time, young Turner had learned from the architect Thomas Hardwicke and the watercolorist Thomas Melton. By the way, he later said that if he were choosing a path again, he would prefer architecture to painting.

The President of the Royal Academy in those years was Sir Joshua Reynolds, for whom Turner the artist had the deepest respect. Often visiting the head of the academy at home, William admired the originals of Rubens, Poussin, and Rembrandt. In his old age, he even mentioned that, perhaps, he spent his happiest days communicating with Reynolds.

As a child, William spent whole days on the Thames, which he then painted throughout his life. He received recognition in his youth, and opened his own gallery when he was not even 30. This is his fixed idea - to have all the paintings collected in one place.

The absolute authority and god in painting for Turner was Claude Lorrain. Lorrain was the first to place on his canvases the shining sun, the main deity of William Turner. According to rumors, when Turner first saw Lorrain’s paintings, he burst into tears from the fullness of his feelings and declared that no one could repeat this (,). Nevertheless, it was he who managed to stand on a par with his idol and turn out to be a worthy successor, praising the sun.

The artist Turner began with watercolors, later came engravings, book illustrations, and finally oils. He was extremely revolutionary for his time and at the same time was in demand and recognized. Its themes are the elements, flowing light, sun, water, fire. The elements in his paintings can be both calm and stormy, rebellious. The radiance and warmth emitted by his works remains unchanged. There is a widely known story when, during a storm, he asked to be tied to a mast in order to observe the hurricane from the inside. It is not a fact that it is real, but his complete dedication to everything related to painting and endless devotion to the forces of nature make this quite possible.

Turner's family and personal life

William Turner's mother ended her days in a mental hospital. Any mention of her infuriated the artist. It’s not only about the difficult memories of what he and his father had to endure, but also about the fear that bad heredity might affect him. And indeed, other caustic critics used to reproach him for madness.

But the artist had a very warm and close relationship with his father. Old Turner was a barber, and when his son gained independence, he lived with him most of the time. He became the chief assistant and passionate connoisseur of the work of the artist William Turner. In biographies of Turner, the death of his father (1829) is usually highlighted as a separate significant event, which in itself is quite significant.

Story personal life William Turner is quite dark, although the main characters are known. In the late 70s, he became friends with the family of composer John Denby. And when he died - with his wife. Yes, he became such friends that he was soon living with her. Sarah Denby bore him two daughters. A good father Turner was not there, although the children were mentioned in the will. Sarah's niece, Hannah Denby, worked for Turner from the age of 23, looking after his household. Their relationship was not limited to the working side; in all likelihood, there was also a sexual relationship. Hannah was deeply devoted to Turner all her life. Judging by the accounts of eyewitnesses, she was slightly out of her mind, and became more and more eccentric with age. She was suffering from some kind of skin disease that resulted in her entire face and body being covered in scabs.

last love Turner is a widow again, Sophia Booth. The artist rented a room from her for several years when he came to Magritte. According to her recollections, he never participated financially in their life... His neighbors knew him as the court clerk, Mr. Booth. At the end of his life, Turner left the house with the gallery to Hannah, and he moved to Sophia Booth. One day, Hannah decided, wrapped up from head to toe, to come to the house in which Turner, who was already seriously ill, lived with Sophia, stood silently and left. Mrs. Booth carried the weakened artist in her arms and died at the age of 76. According to her recollections, without even getting out of bed, Turner often demanded drawing supplies and made sketches in notebooks.

The Cool Temper of William Turner

Most contemporaries agree that Turner had an unfriendly, harsh disposition, and it would be better not to get close to him. He was either silent or unceremonious and sarcastic. However, among the chorus of those outraged by Turner’s bad temper, there are other voices. One day he was visiting one of his wealthy patrons and collectors. When someone in the household asked him why he shouldn’t paint a self-portrait, Turner replied: “What is the point of painting such an insignificant figure like me? This may harm my drawings. Will people say that such a kid can draw?”. Often, shyness and shyness are hidden under the armor of ungraciousness. Perhaps this is to some extent true of William Turner? He was short in stature, with a strong, squat build, a rough face reminiscent of a bulldog, his hands were always chapped, and his fingers were smeared with paint. No, it was not the London dandy hiding behind the guise of an academician, the artist Turner. He was compared to a sailor, a peasant, a cab driver. He himself admitted that he was not an aristocrat, but a hard worker, citing hard daily work as his “secret”: “I don’t know any other genius than the genius of hard work.”.

When Turner wrote, he became frantic. Walter Fox, a wealthy collector who happily bought Turner's paintings, recalled that he began by pouring liquid paint on the paper until it became completely wet. Often he worked on several paintings at once - while one was drying, he worked on the next one, then moved on to another, after which he returned to the first. When the sheet dried, the artist, as if in a frenzy, began to tear, scrape and rub the paper, and these movements seemed devoid of any system, chaotic. But gradually the image appeared. Turner's method was the opposite of the classical approach with its strictly defined forms and background. Turner first showed the fluid, elemental space in which he worked, from which, under the movements of his brush, and often his fingers, light, color, radiance, sun, water, fire were born. Artists sometimes made final adjustments before exhibitions to paintings already hung at the Academy. Performed by Turner, it was a completely wild act; he could rub the paint with spit, touch it with his finger, and the fury with which he worked on the painting made you worry about the integrity of the canvas.

William Turner was an excellent financier and knew how to manage money. There is a story about how Walter Scott tried to attract him to illustrate Scottish Provincial Antiquities. In one letter to the publisher, Scott states: “Turner's palm is as itchy as his fingers are talented, and, take my word for it, he will not do anything without cash, and for it - anything. Of all the people I know, he is almost the only person with talent who is so low in these matters." Turner treated money greedily, but after his death it turned out that he had not taken money from an indigent guest who rented housing in a house he owned for many years.

In communicating with colleagues, the artist Turner was also not distinguished by delicacy, and when he was promoted to academician in 1802, many began to reproach him for arrogance and arrogance. Nevertheless, his colleagues appreciated his comments extremely; he could tell at first glance exactly what needed to be corrected in the work, and it always turned out to be the right decision. Despite his far from easy character, his works received recognition both in the academy and in the houses of wealthy collectors. Artist Benjamin West named Turner the greatest painter modernity and in a very elegant formulation recognized his merits: “Rembrandt would like to paint like that!.. If only he could”.

But teaching turned out to be weak side Turner. His speech, a professor of perspective at the Royal Academy, was boring and confusing, although the students still loved his lectures and came to class. The most interesting thing began when he, abandoning attempts to lecture, began to show what painting is and what it is like to paint a picture.

The son of a wealthy wine merchant, John Ruskin, met Turner when the artist was 65 years old, and Ruskin was 21. Ruskin became the most militant admirer of Turner's art and a fierce fighter for his reputation. Art critics are ambivalent about his figure; there is an opinion that Ruskin was a vulgar, rich dandy. But whoever he was, largely thanks to his efforts, last will Turner - that his paintings should, if possible, be collected and exhibited in one place. Since 1949, it has been the Tate Gallery in London, the official home of Turner's works.

Turner's Travels

The Thames is passion, love, the main object that he painted all his life. Even in his youth, Turner built a boat and rafted down the river, eagerly absorbing subjects for future paintings. He generally went on travels with one purpose - to be filled with impressions, to find new themes and new colors.

In his youth, Turner wandered through the mountainous regions of Wales, later exploring the center, north and south of England. He has been traveling throughout Europe since the 1800s. France, which has not yet become an artistic mecca, Switzerland, Scotland, Germany... Italy! That's where he wanted to go. See Rome, Turin, Milan, Verona, make countless sketches and drawings... But the main thing is Venice. Venice to Turner, who was so sensitive to the play of light, the movement of water, and the glare of the sun, probably seemed like paradise. What did he feel when he first came to this place? He will come to this paradise more than once. It seems that in the Venetian landscapes Turner managed to place the sun behind the canvas, and it is its rays that make the paintings so radiant. He will never lose this sun again.