A painter of visionary landscapes, riverscapes and seascapes, J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) was a supremely confident and brilliant exponent of Romanticism. Turning out between one hundred and fifty and two hundred paintings a year in his later life, as well as prolifically working in watercolors, Turner was equally at home on canvas or paper, in oil or watercolor, with pen or pencil. A lifelong Londoner – despite the fact that his work was hugely appreciated abroad – he was an unrivalled master of the world around him: whether depicting the great storms that swept across Britain’s coasts or capturing a river landscape at sunset on a summer evening; whether painting his beloved views of Italy or depicting life in London during the 1830s Chartist protests.'

Turner is one of the most celebrated and internationally popular artists in history. He has been described as "far and away the greatest British painter" with works hanging in many of the world's leading art galleries. His later works show an increasingly abstracted form, with little or no narrative content, and coloristic intensity. Although he is primarily remembered for his seascapes, Turner also painted fine portraits, landscapes, genre scenes and watercolors.