J.M.W. Turner was born in London, England in 1775. His parents were William and Mary Turner, a modestly prosperous barber and a seamstress respectively. From a young age, Turner was showing promise as he displayed interest in art and the creative endeavors in his hometown of Brentford. In 1786 he was sent to school in Margate one of the major seaside towns of the era, where he discovered his love for shipbuilding and landscape painting.
Despite these accomplishments, Turner’s life was marked by tragedy when his mother was committed to an insane asylum due to her mental illness which caused her to become violent. He felt sympathy for her until her death about 12 years later. Despite these personal difficulties, he managed to continue learning and developing his craft throughout his life and established himself as one of the greatest English painters of all time.
Turner has since become a celebrated figure in English culture and is renowned for his contributions to landscape painting. His number of works are among some of the most impressive creation known to man with lasting impacts that still resonate today centuries after his death in 1851 at the age of 76 years old at Twickenham where he spent most of his final days surrounded with nature’s beauty that had inspired him so strongly throughout his lifetime.