Author Description

This book, the first in a series of catalogues to examine Turner's work on paper decade by decade, investigates his work as a draughtsman and watercolourist in the early years of his career. The selection of works, drawn chiefly from the resources of the Clore Gallery, shows the astonishing speed with which Turner developed from modest beginnings as a boy of twelve into an artist of extraordinary range and ability by the age of twenty-five. All aspects of Turner's varied output are represented, from life studies drawn at the Royal Academy schools, and watercolours of picturesque scenery made after his return from tours throughout Britain, to the large watercolours of the North Welsh mountains of circa 1798-1799, unrivaled for expressive grandeur and subtlety of atmospheric effect.