Joseph Mallord William Turner - Exchange Court, Maiden Lane, London, UK
N 51° 30.622 W 000° 07.416
30U E 699594 N 5710505
This City of Westminster green plaque, to the artist Turner, is attached to a building on the south east side of Maiden Lane in Exchange Court.
Waymark Code: WMM84T
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/08/2014
Views: 4
The green plaque, erected bt the City of Westminster and the Turner Society, tells us:
City of Westminster
Joseph Mallord
William
Turner RA
(1775 - 1851)
Artist
was born in a house
on this site
The Turner Society 1999
The National Gallery website tells us about Turner:
Turner is perhaps the best-loved English Romantic artist. He became known as 'the painter of light', because of his increasing interest in brilliant colours as the main constituent in his landscapes and seascapes. His works include water colours, oils and engravings.
Turner was born near Covent Garden in London and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1789. His earliest works form part of the 18th-century topographical tradition. He was soon inspired by 17th-century Dutch artists such as Willem van der Velde, and by the Italianate landscapes of Claude and Richard Wilson.
He exhibited watercolours at the Royal Academy from 1790, and oils from 1796. In 1840 he met the critic John Ruskin, who became the great champion of his work.
Turner became interested in contemporary technology, as can be seen from 'The Fighting Temeraire' and 'Rain, Steam and Speed'. At the time his free, expressive treatment of these subjects was criticised, but it is now widely appreciated.
Turner bequeathed much of his work to the nation. The great majority of the paintings are now at Tate Britain.