Masters of World Painting: William Turner

A lecture by art historian Martin Pavlíček.

William Turner is regarded as the greatest English painter - a Romantic landscape artist, master of light and color, whose work foreshadowed Impressionism. He was admitted to the Royal Academy in London at age 14. He painted dramatic seascapes, mountain ranges, and storms, repeatedly returning to Italy to capture Venetian and Roman motifs.

In his later work, he became increasingly drawn to the Industrial Revolution. His painting Rain, Steam, and Speed became a symbol of 19th-century modernity.