J. M. W. Turner

Happy Birthday J. M. W. Turner!! English landscape painter born in 1775, artist Turner initially painted in watercolor, exhibiting his first oil in 1796. He worked primarily from engravings and drawings from his contemporaries. He traveled to France, Switzerland and Italy for sketching trips. He was acclaimed for his atmospheric conditions and light much like the Impressionists later, but did not paint directly from nature. The painting below is titled The Fighting Temeraire, and in 2005 was voted in Britain as the best painting in any British art gallery.