Biography of Joseph Mallord William Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner was a son of barber William Gay Turner. He was born on 27th January 1738 in Convent Garden, London, England. His mother, Mary Marshall lost his mental balance after the death of her younger daughter and in 1804 Mary died. After so many problems in the family Joseph William Turner was send by his father to his maternal uncle’s house in 1775 at Brentford. The town was situated in London on the banks of River Thames. This was the place where William Turner started taking interest in drawings and paintings. By the time he joined school he had made many paintings and his father kept his creations in his shop.

Royal Academy of arts admitted him under the chairmanship of Joshua Reynolds in 1789 when  William Turner was only 15 years old. In the beginning he was mainly interested in architectural painting. In Summer exhibition in 1790 Turner’s watercolor’s was exhibited and in 1796 he first exhibited his oil painting Fishermen at Sea and after that every year till his last time his paintings got exhibited in the academy.

Joseph William Turner traveled a lot to France, Switzerland, Paris and almost whole of Europe. He visited many times to Venice also. Turner had no close friends. He was a quiet accentric kind of person in his old age. His father was the only close relation of him who worked with him as a studio assistant. William Turner was very much affected by his father’s death in 1829 and went into depression.

William Turner had a special affection for humanity. He depicted different natures of human beings in many of his paintings to show his love for humanity. Natural things also attracted him like he was fond of water especially the powerful sea. His paintings Dawn after the Wreck and The Slave Ship in 1840 shown his love for sea.
His style of painting is distinctive from others. He mixed watercolor technique of painting with oil colours. He created atmospheric effects and lighting effects in his paintings so beautifully that it looks unique.

He started using oils with more transparency in his last paintings. Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great western Railway was one of his matured style paintings. Many people use to call him ‘Painter of light’ because of perfect combination of light in his paintings.

Joseph Mallord William Turner was never married but blessed with two daughters. At the time of his death he was at the house of his mistress, Sophia Caroline Booth. On 19th December 1851 this great painter died in Chelsea. Like Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Turner was also buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral on his personal request.