Landscape Artist Joseph Mallord William Turner - Research Paper Example

Research Paper LANDSCAPE ARTIST J.M.W. TURNER INTRODUCTION: Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) is widely regarded as Britain’s greatest painter and one of the world’s great artists. The central principle of Turner’s romantic art, according to Wainwright (603), is the arousal of sensation. The existential and emotional effect that Turner’s landscape paintings can have on the viewers underscores the link between his art and the experience of vulnerability. Clark, 1969 as quoted in Wainwright (604), states that romantic artists in particular, and generally all artists paint because they want to move us. John Constable, a contemporary of Turner’s, was of the opinion that “painting was another word for feeling”. A highly versatile and prolific artist, Turner created more than five hundred oil paintings and thousands of water colors, drawings and sketches, and numerous engravings over his long career of over sixty years. Turner developed quickly as an artist producing his earliest drawing in the 1780s. From the young age of fourteen he received training in art from the Royal Academy due to his enormous talent, and was made a full member by 1802. Turner’s penchant for serious reading of learned treatises on painting, literary and historical classics contributed to his vast range of mind (Rodner: 1-2). He won early and consistent patronage and popularity, though in later years some of his freely executed individualistic canvases met with controversy (Rodner:2). The Subject Matter of J.M.W. Turner’s Works: The artist covered an enormous range of subject matter, and was proficient in the use of both oils and watercolors. His paintings were extremely varied. Several works were on similar topics as a series of paintings on historical events, Biblical narrations, rural landscapes, industrialized towns, castles, rivers, marinescapes, rain, catastrophic storms and avalanches, Venetian land and waterscapes, sunsets and sunrises, sketches and engravings and many more. Turner’s versatility is seen in the many genres as well as schools of painting such as impressionism, post-impressionism, romanticism, etc. Turner’s life spanned one of the most innovative and influential phases of technological development. With industrialization came production and manufacturing, the expansion of cities, dramatic rise in population were great influences on his art. Turner’s watercolors of multistorey mills, fiery furnaces and polluted skies reflect the startling novelty of industrialism. The perfection of the steam boat, the introduction of the railroad, revolutionized transportation. Turners’s oils such as The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to be Broken Up depicts the indisputable importance of steam power, in the form of the tiny steam tug which is to replace the lumbering hulk of the sailing ship. Similarly, Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway captures the relentless dynamism of industrialization (Rodner: 1). Landscape occupied a central place in Turner’s art and he strove to add to the range of the genre with serious and probing insight. His attention to nature’s humbling complexity and his concern for humanity’s connection to the environment found expression in these works. Turner discovered in the industrial revolution, opportunities to reaffirm the ageless concepts of ambition, progress and limitation in landscape and marine painting. By heightening his colors and loosening his technique, he conveyed technology’s distinctive characteristic as well as its rash challenge to nature (Rodner: 2). Immensely read, widely traveled, a compulsive sketcher, with an incredible memory and depth of natural observation, reclusive, ambitious and hardworking, Turner created landscape paintings that are revolutionary even today. He aimed to make watercolors the equal of oil painting in visual drama and impact, which he achieved through many technical and design innovations — some his own, and some adopted from painters such as Thomas Girtin1. Some of Turner’s paintings are marvellously suggestive narratives on the universal human experiences of loss, decline, aging and death (Wainwright, 604). Turner is also the creator of tremendous images of fatality. His subjects usually encapsulate pivotal moments: a rise or a fall, a victory or a defeat, a sunrise or a sunset. The paintings emphasize man’s insignificance in the face of the powers of nature, according to Strong (1999: 498) as quoted in Wainwright (605). These romantic motifs are vividly illustrated in many of Turner’s classical and Biblical pictures. Turner was an artist driven by the urge to surpass. As a student he was taught to view the works of great masters as models to imitate and at the same time as rivals with which to contend. Dido Building Carthage or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire (1815) is Turner’s response to the landscapes of Claude Lorraine, according to Wainwright (605). The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (1817), represents the end, perhaps the death of an era. “Rise” and “Decline” is seen as a story of ageing, a representation of our own birth, life and inevitable death. Great art of any genre transcends time and place through its use of archetypes. Through myth and symbol, the particular can be understood as the universal (Wainwright 606). The sublime landscapes of romanticism called for violent and spectacular effects to invoke the wild awesomeness and mysteriousness of nature (Wilton, 2001) as quoted in Wainwright (607-608). The sublime being productive of strong emotion, the vulnerability and precariousness of man’s existence, overwhelmed by a natural world of irrepressible forces, of mountains, floods, storms and raging seas is brought out in many of Turner’s paintings. In search of the sublime, Turner travelled widely, sketching grandiose scenery and extreme weather conditions which he translated into canvases exhibited with poetic quotations. The Formal and Stylistic Elements of J.M.W. Turner’s Works: J.M.W. Turner mastered most of the artistic styles of his time, from classicism to the picturesque, from romanticism to the sublime. (Rodner: 2). From the large plate of the Shipwreck until the late 1820s he favored mezzotint as a medium of publishing his oil paintings. Those paintings were early Sublime subjects whose dark tonality naturally lent itself to interpretation in mezzotint (Wilton, 94). From 1833-1835 gouache was used at all stages of the production of topographical views, from sketch to finished work. The choice of medium was influenced by Turner’s growing interest in saturated color, and the translation of colour into the monochrome of line-engraving (Wilton, 94). His watercolors were generally engraved in line. The Liber Studiorum were published plates to serve as a record of Turner’s finished compositions such as (French artist, 1600-1682) Claude Lorrain’s Liber Veritatis. Keeping in mind the mezzotinted plates of Richard Earlom (1743-1822), Turner’s plates for his Liber Studiorum were executed in mezzotint over an etched outline. The originals were monochrome drawings that Turner prepared using pen and brown ink wash (Wilton, 94). Etching effectively reproduced pen and ink, tone was added by means of wood blocks, aquatint or mezzotint (95). In many of Turner’s paintings, yellow predominated to an excessive degree, according to Butlin and Joll (1984: 95), as quoted in Wainwright (605). Dido Building Carthage or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire (1815) is justly famous for the sublime achievement of the warm glow of the sun on the sea. The scene is a transcendent vision of shimmering morning light, transforming nature into the stuff of great art and creating visual poetry full of luminous glory. In certain watercolours Turner suspended altogether the definition of a specific subject, leaving almost everything in doubt but the positive existence of colour. Many of the exhibited paintings began the same way; the act of defining a particular scene was postponed until the varnishing days when the paintings were already hanging, and then performed with astounding brilliance2. In the following landscape paintings A and B (Fig.1), the almost realistic reproduction of natural beauty is stunning to view.3 Figure 1 A B A: The Passage of the St. Gothard,  1804, Watercolour with scraping-out The mountainous grandeur of Switzerland made a profound impression on Turner on his European journey in 1802, the memory of which is preserved in this awesome scene of precipice and chasm. The light and shadow effects on the mountainsides, the distant mist show masterful strokes of the brush with watercolours. Watercolours are more difficult to use as compared to oils, as they are clear and cannot be corrected by another layer of paint. B: The Great Fall of Riechenback,in the Valley of Hasle, Switzerland, 1804 The above watercolour was painted when Turner returned to England. The trees are excellent, and the geological features are very well drawn, so is the behavior of the water, where it forms into a fine spray at the foot of the waterfall. The dramatic scenery and weather effects of the Alps gave entirely new meaning to Turners concept of the Sublime . His exploration of the Alps, villages and passes of Switzerland enriched his imagination and upon return to his England he made the fine watercolours above among many others. According to Hefferman (117-118), Turner linked the titles of about one-fourth of his exhibited oils to poetry of some kind: to verses either quoted from others: Milton, Thomson, Byron, or composed by himself. He prompts us to see how his pictures reconstruct the poetry and thus generate new meaning of their own. When he quotes his own verse, he replaces literature on which the subject of painting was originally expected to be based on, and creates a rival text of poetry that independently authorizes the painting. Turners painting became increasingly abstract as he strove to portray light, space, and the elemental forces of nature. He encountered violent criticism as his style became increasingly free, but he was defended by Ruskin and others. Visionary, revolutionary, and extremely influential, these late paintings laid the groundwork for impressionism, postimpressionism, abstract expressionism, color-field painting, and a myriad of other art movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries4. Turner has shown deep interest in the subject of light and color. The lightening and brightening of color was achieved in his oil painting by the use of a white ground, scumbling, and the application of color glazes. These techniques he learned as a result of his careful study of old master paintings, of basic optical and color principles, and from his own experience as a highly skilled water colorist (Finley: 187). Critical and Historical Context for the Artist: How Does He Relate to Contemporaries? At the Royal Academy on varnishing days, Turner’s legendary performances of laboring from dawn to dark on his paintings in full view of other artists were calculated to show that he could “ourwork and kill” every one of them. He strived to eclipse other artists’ works with his own, creating genre pieces in competition with other potentially good work, placing them strategically for maximum effects at Royal Academy exhibitions. For example, in 1807 his Sun Rising Through Vapor and A Country Blacksmith Disputing Upon the Price of Iron is said to have eclipsed David Wilkie’s (1785-1841) Fiddler, since the young painter had won acclaim for his painting The Village Politicians at the previous year’s exhibition (Heffernan, 118). Turner thrived on emulation. In 1822, he got engravings made from his works since he was eager to contend with earlier master painters such as Claude. Liber Studiorum exhibited a variety of “Landscape Art”: mountainous, historical, marine, pastoral, and “epic pastoral” which was meant to distinguish between the ideal or classical pastoral of Claude and the rustic pastoral of the Dutch which he interpreted in subjects such as The Straw Yard and Hedging and Ditching (Wilton, 94). Critics stated that Turner wished to claim for himself the ground that David Wilkie had recently so successfully occupied as heir to the Dutch genre of painters (Wilton, 94). Other than David Wilkie, John Constable (1776-1837) was a contemporary of Turner’s, whose work belonged to the Impressionist movement, but whose technique was in congruence with that of the impressionists. Like Turner, he was also a product of his times. John Constable looked closely at the properties of shifting light and the movements of clouds, creating paeans to actual places and times of the day5. The strain of pessimism that permeates many of Turner’s paintings as in Byron’s poems is reiterated by the art critic John Ruskin, a notable Victorian who celebrated Turner’s greatness (Hefferman, 160). Besides the component of pessimism, the overt self-projection in Byron’s poetry can be seen in the covert self-signification in Turner’s art (Hefferman, 163). Is J.M.W. Turner Part of a Movement? Turner was part of the Impressionist movement. The Impressionist artists recorded what they experienced when looking at the real world, and did not create an idealized image. They worked outdoors, painting from life. Impressionist work was lighter and more spontaneous. Rather than using black or white to “model” objects in light and shade, they used dabs of brilliant color to build up the impression of a scene. One of the influences on the Impressionism movement was J.M.W. Turner. His earlier work appealed to the impressionists. He later allocated colors (chiefly red, yellow and blue: to which he attached symbolic meanings to areas of a canvas before deciding what objects would be represented by them. He would commonly introduce superfluous items into a scene in order to introduce colors. This was not appealing to contemporaries like Claude Monet who had his own unique way of seeing things, and painting from reality (Fraser; Banks: 102). How J.M.W. Turner Relates to Artistic Traditions: Artistic traditions adhered to formality and clarity of shapes, forms, colours and intensities in paintings. Realistic adaptation and reproduction of scenery, landscapes and objects was the tradition that was commended. In Turner’s late paintings there was inventive and surreal use of color. His use of an apparently unreal though in fact scientific three-color basis for painting, and his reliance on yellow over and above red and blue, caused revulsion and ridicule among some critics. Turner was seen as ruining the real beauty of nature through personal obsession. His late paintings do not conform with representation through color, their greatness lies in their expression of catastrophe (Williams: 5) Yet, it is this sacrifice of represented nature that art critic Deleuze picks out as the most important aspect of the late paintings: “Everything becomes mixed and confused, and it is here that the breakthrough - not the breakdown – occurs.” Catastrophe becomes actual to such an extent that the works of art are catastrophes in themselves. Color and light in Turner are primordial, they cannot be re-inscribed into a mythology of colour (Williams: 6). Critics have seen this in Turner’s most accomplished paintings that are sometimes termed "incomplete": from the moment there is genius, there is something that belongs to no school, no period, something that achieves a breakthrough - art as a process without goal, but that attains completion as such (Williams: 6). Where Turner expresses the intensity of light and colour at work behind actual figures he emphasizes their power. If his expression of light and color takes over altogether from figures, then that achievement of effect will be lost (Williams: 10). Some Major Influences From Inside or Outside the Art World On His Work: J.M.W. Turner captured the dynamism of industrialization in his steam paintings, arguing for the serious consideration of machines as worthy subjects of art. He rendered utilitarian technology visually interesting, and at the same time supported industrialization’s claims to inevitability, progress, promise and affluence. The economic privation and social disruption that accompanied the revolution was not shown in his paintings (Rodner: 2). Goethe’s theory of light and color had a major influence on Turner’s work. Turner seems to have believed that both light and darkness are equally powerful. Goethe’s reference to “the primordial phenomenon of light and darkness” may have contributed to the artist’s selection of the deluge subject for his pictures from the first book of the Bible: Genesis since darkness and light play a very important symbolic role in the book. The provide the appropriate tonalities for the allegorical evening before and the morning after the Flood (Finley: 532). Relevance of the Artist’s Background to His Work: Turner’s parents, unlike those of many other artists were proud of his extraordinary talent. Mary, his mother passed away while he was still a young boy, in a mentally disturbed condition in a nursing home. Turner’s father was a barber and wig-maker who displayed the twelve-year-old’s paintings in his shop window and also sold them. He was not given more than basic education, and was encouraged to build his talent in painting (Bockemuhl: 4). Later, his father took on the manservant’s role in the painter’s bachelor household, helping him in his art work by mounting and grounding the canvases and preparing the paints. At the age of fourteen, young William used to visit his uncle in the country, and there began the life-long habit of roaming through the countryside, making sketches. He was commissioned by architects to produce sketches of buildings in perspective, was taken on as an apprentice, and then was admitted to the art school of the Royal Academy on a probationary basis, at the young age of fourteen (Bockemuhl: 4). From then onwards, his upward climb was speedy because of his enormous talent, and deep interest in self-education on science, history and Bible studies. His early family life of instability due to his mother’s illness, lack of formal education and economically backward condition may have influenced his vision of life, since many of his paintings are based on the concepts of decline, ageing, death, pessimism, and catastrophe. Selected Work From the Artist’s Collection: The famous paintings Rain, Steam and Speed and The Fighting Temeraire depict the dawning of the new industrial age, and to the consequent loss of a languorous rural age. Rain, Steam and Speed- The Great Western Railway (Fig.2) is one of the earliest railroad paintings by a major artist was Turner’s last significant depiction of a steam subject (Rodner: 4). Figure 2. Rain, Steam and Speed- The Great Western Railway Through its free handling and emotive effects the painting dramatically exposed one of the principal aspects of industrial advancement after 1830. This portrayal of the railroad’s speed and energy communicates the union of technology and landscape, evokes promise tinged with anxiety, and captures imagination and atmosphere. The steam paintings rank as major creative achievements by virtue of their aesthetic value and contribution to Turner’s artistic development (Rodner: 4). In the above painting the graphic image of change is underscored by a romantic fascination with the complex energy of machines. Humanity’s yearnings for such power, and the relationship of machine with nature are the unique aspects of the painting. Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway (1844) is a wonderful example of Turner’s ability to transform his own intense experiences into his art, and for his art to produce a passionate emotional response in the viewer. It is a combination of the forces of nature and skilfully used imagery (Wainwright 609-610). The hare as a symbol of speed is running for its life in front of a speeding train which is crossing a bridge over the languid River Thames, the highway of the past. The composition can be seen as a nostalgic commenton the accelerated pace of modern life (Schama 1995) as quoted in Wainwright (610). The above painting was appreciated by all, including critics, and is an extraordinary elemental image in which the seventy-year-old Turner draws together his concerns for art, light and atmosphere. The painting is another vivid translation of a personal experience: Turner reputedly stuck his head out of the window of a speeding train in a snow-storm. Such ‘lived experience’ becomes transfigured by the white heat of Turner’s artistic imagination and sensibility (Wainwright, 610). Turners art conquers not only the forces of impressionism, but also the power of an explosive line without contours. Making painting itself a catastrophe without equal, instead of romantically illustrating catastrophe (Williams: 1). Turners dramatic use of light and color expresses the potential violent changes that bring about and destroy any actual natural state. The explosive, undermining and sundering effects of colour in the paintings disrupt figure. Shapes lose their form as tangible facts. Catastrophe is to be Turners greatest achievement (Williams: 6). Turner brings together an understanding of the forces of nature, of the science of color and the romantic relation of man to nature (Williams: 5). Conclusion: The research paper on the nineteenth century artist J.M.W.Turner’s landscape art, in order to be comprehensive, takes into account various aspects that went into the making of the master painter and his work. This was only a very small part of his vast repertoire. The sheer variety and beauty of the masterpieces, his techniques in creating them, and his expert use of both oils and watercolors are inimitable. The Victorian era saw many imminent artists of various art movements and genres perfecting their art. But Turner’s contribution to Britain’s art world will always remain unique. ­­­­­­­­­­----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORKS CITED Bockemuhl, Michael. J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851: World of Light and Color (Basic Art). United Kingdom: Taschen, 2000. Finley, Gerald. “The Deluge Pictures: Reflections on Goethe, J.M.W. Turner and Early Nineteenth-Century Science”. JSTOR, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 60 Bd., H. 4. (1997), pp. 530-548. Finley, Gerald E. Angel in the Sun: Turner’s Vision of History. Canada: McGill-Queen’s Press, 1999. Fraser, Tom; Banks, Adam. Designer’s Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application. U.S.A: Chronicle Books, 2004. Heffernan, James A.W. Cultivating Picturacy: Visual Art and Verbal Interventions. Texas: Baylor University Press, 2006. Rodner, William S. J.M.W. Turner: Romantic Painter of the Industrial Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Wainwright, Steven P. “Embodied Vulnerability in the Art of J.M.W. Turner: Representations of Ageing in Romantic Painting”. Ageing and Society, Vol.24: pp.603-616, 2004 Williams, Dr. James, University of Dundee, Deleuze on J.M.W. Turner: Catastrophism in Philosophy. Research Paper: pp.1-13. Wilton, Andrew. Turner as Draughtsman. Burlington, U.S.A: Ashgate Publishing, 2005. Read More