Joseph Mallord William Turner Born 1775, died 1851 o 1851 year of the grand exhibition Crystal Palace

ace (huge building, 1851 feet long, designed by a landscape artist named Paxton) One of the most famous and most mysterious British artists well run into Unique technique, enormous range of landscapes, seascapes, history, etc. Most of his works are in the Tate Museum in London Kept his private life secret went by a pseudonym, lived with a woman who was not his wifelot of mystery surrounding him Amazingly precocious o By his early 20s he was producing copies of Claude, Tournier Some said that they were better than the originals Making him an extremely popular artist o 1802: full member of the Academy by the time Constable had his first painting showed there o 1800: producing actual sketches from nature o Reckless technician, a sort of show-off o Loved to astonish people by re-painting his paintings right before they were showed in the academy Most of his paintings have darkened because he was hurrying and the proper technique was not used Interior of Westminister Abbey, 1796 o Watercolor o Shown in the Royal Academy o Looking westward toward the crossing and the north transept o Signs it as if his signature is an inscription in the stone of the floor William Turner, born 1775) Fishermen at Sea, 1796 o First work he exhibited in oils o Also shown in the Royal Academy o Look at the fire on the boat o Moonlight on the sea o Again, he is only 21 o Stakes his claim as a serious painter, and as a marine painter, all at once o Seen as the rising star of the Academy o This work represents an early example of the kind of sublime Turner is heading towards the true classic sublime which sets him apart from the rest of the artists Sublime In the 18th century, it meant something very different than it does today

The sublime meant: sublime produces a sort of internal elevation and expansion, it raises the mind much above the ordinary state, and fills it with a degree of wonder and astonishment which is certainly delightful but it is altogether of a serious kind, a degree of awe-fulness and solemnity even approaching to severity, commonly attends it when its at it heightvery distinguishable from the gay and brisk emotion praised by the beautiful Hugh Blair Sublime in the 18th century had a religious feeling contained in it (today we dont associate it with religion) These overt religious overtones may be one of the things that differentiates that understanding of sublimity than that of modern times Considered to be a positive description Seen as something Michelangelo could dosomething they thought about Michelangelo that was sublime (frightening, powerful, beautiful, etc.) Poetry was more suitable towards the production of the sublime than painting sublimity was more easily produced through words Avoids superfluous detail, details with big gestures, color subordinate to grand design Sir Joshua Reynolds continued to refer to Mike as a master of the sublime Ut pictura poases as it is in poetry, so it is in painting Horace trying to do for painting the same thing that poetry did (example of poetry: Milton) Principle demand for landscape is a problem though, so Mikes paintings dont really count Gainsboroughs Robert Andrews and his Wife, 1748-50 Picturesque o Think of the Apollo Belvedere This is what you would tend to get in England (Stowe) Key person to help the development of picturesque: William Giltman Made his landscape to reflect Claude and Poussin Picturesque Sublime Salvator Rosas Polycrates Receiving the Fish and Ring, 1640 Salvator Rosas Landscape with Armed Men, 1650 Difference between picturesque-ness of Poussin and picturesesque-sublime of Rosa Think the Laocoon

Back to Turner Begins as a picturesque-sublime painter Morning Amongst the Coniston Fells, Cumbeland, 1798 o Gloomy ravine you have in the foreground with the mountains in the background o Pale light of the dawn o Mist slowly hides details as you go off into the distance o Turners intention (he quotes Milton, and that quote goes with his work) Literary reference is important because it lifts his work to another realm o The element of human danger has not really been introduced not true sublime here Devils Bridge, St. Gothard, 1803-04 o Still picturesque sublime o A sort of aesthetic contemplation here where we become involved as a viewer but we dont really get lost into it o What will happen later with the sublime is that we will have to finish the painter ourselves as a viewer and then the painting becomes a part of us o But still, there is still a you are there quality to the paitning, making it picturesque sublime Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1800 o First real historical picture even though its really the 7th plague o You can still look upon this as a literary episode Dutch Boats in a Gale, 1801 o Were really excited about it, thinking about what it would be like, but were not frightened by it o Too much detail, making us think about it like a literary work Fishermen on a Lee Shore in Squally Weather, 1803 Fishing Boats Entering Calais Harbor, 1803 o English boat arriving o French boat entering as well o Looked at van Ruisdale and outdoing him o Picturesque Shipwreck, 1805 o 1802 Turner moved to France Visited the Alps Probably was exposed to many 17th century artists o Turner comes back to England to paint this o One of the paintings that you could get a copper copy of Turner is realizing that he can make a lot of money Copies were not colored, were in black and white, and you can see the date in the corner

Way of publicizing his workletting people know what hes doing at this particular time o Takes an important step past the Dutch Boats in a Gale The viewer is more engaged than in the Dutch Boats in a Gale But Turner is not consistent he doesnt paint everything in the intensity of the Shipwreck o Picturesque sublime Sun Rising through Vapor (Fishermen Cleaning Fish), 1807 o Clearly looking towards Claude Lorrains Seaport with Embarkation of Queen Sheba o Turner gave this painting to the National Gallery but demanded that it be placed next to Claude Lorrains Snowstorm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps, 1812 o True sublime painting o Napoleons doomed invasion of Russian happened in 1812 o Atmospheric effects from this picture were derived from his experience (there was a storm that he talks about that occurred a year or two this was painted) o Hannibal crosses the Alps in a blinding tumult of a storm o Dont really see the elephants, dont really see the enemy o Alps become a blur of battered fragments of etc. o Indistinctness is the essence of sublime Sublime because we have to finish it Instead of representing ideas, Turner, here, excites them (Turner causes you to come up with your own ideashe isnt telling you what to think, he is causing you to make your own conclusions) Sublime you have to worry about injury from this painting (not true of picturesque sublime) Picturesque taming nature (nature is not dangerous because you confine the world into a frame) Dido Building Carthage, 1815 o Building on Claude Lorrains Embarkation o Just because Turner can do sublime doesnt mean he always does it o Sun rising Decline of Carthage, 1817 o Sun setting Vesuvius in Eruption, 1817 o Obviously wasnt seen by Turner in person, but he painted it as though he did o Awe-filled Eruption of the Soufriere, St. Vincent, 1812 o Trying to arouse the sense of awe (whether or not it was successful is debatable)

Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, 1829 o See the cloud of Polyphemus (knees and shaking his fist) o Mythological subjects celebrating good and evil The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834, 1835 o We would call it the house of Parliament o the passing of an old order replaced by a new order Reform bill had been passed 2 years earlier o Color in the detail is closer to the original color o Slide 39 Painting that was submitted to the Royal Academy for exhibition Famous instance of him painting the painting the night before the exhibition (Varnishing Day) Done with a palette knife difficult to keep oil paint clear and not muddy 4 elements: earth, fire, water, air Disembodied energy Snowstorm, Avalanche, Innundation, 1837 o 1837 Constable died o The true sublime blending of color o True space of the work: the area between the spectator and the objct o We need to finish this painting ourselves The Fighting Temeraire (Towed to her Last Berth), 1838 o Lord Nelson was shot on the boat and wanted a real funeral on land o The steam is taking over o The old world is being taken over o The steamer will take over and the Temeraire will be dismantled o Sun is setting The Slave Ship, 1840 o The boat is throwing off the dead and dying as a typhoon comes too much weight on the boat and need to lighten it o Look at the numerous bodies o Human sacrifice is a key part in this painting o Look at the sea there are some sharks in the water o Could be a good example of his mature sublime painting Snowstorm, Steamboat of a Harbours Mouth, 1842 o Precise record of a particular circumstance o People saw nothing that was recognizable and attacked it for its lack of that Rain, Steam, and Speed: The Great Western Railroard, 1845 o Lot of questions asked as opposed to answers given o Sublime o Train roaring across bridge

o Boat in the Thames o Turner watched a train go by in a blinding rainstorm for 10 minutes Turner died in 1851