Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), 'the painter of light', was the most important English painter of the age of Romanticism. He merged his observation of natural phenomena with a particular attention to the atmospheric and an extraordinary, transformative visionary talent. After portrayals of the English countryside in the topographical tradition, such as Frosty Morning, (1813, London, Tate Britain), experiences such as his Grand Tour of Italy, where he much admired the light and scenery of the landscape, led Turner to paint canvasses in which light is rendered with dense impastos, as in Snow Storm — Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth (1842, London, Tate Britain), and the celebrated Rain, Steam, and Speed — The Great Western Railway (1844, London, National Gallery) — an expressive treatment of a strongly contemporary theme. The book includes works from National Gallery, London (2); National Maritime Museum (Greenwich), London; Tate Britain, London (8); University Museum, Liverpool; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland; Museum of Arts, Dallas; National Gallery of Arts, Washington.
