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The master of light, in all his turbulent genius — the definitive modern life. Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) — barber’s son turned Royal Academy star — painted the modern world into being: its storms and steamships, its wars and wonders. James Hamilton’s richly detailed biography is the portrait he deserves.
Drawing on letters, sketchbooks, and fresh archival research, Hamilton reveals the private Turner behind the public legend: the secretive, restless traveler, the loyal friend, the shrewd businessman, the radical innovator whose late, almost abstract visions of light left even admirers breathless — from The Fighting Temeraire to the late seascapes, in all their drama and mystery.
Vivid, scholarly, and deeply sympathetic, this acclaimed biography is essential reading for art lovers and history readers alike — the painter who saw further than anyone, and changed art forever with light itself: the prophet of the modern.
James Hamilton’s Turner: A Life is a richly detailed biography of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) — the master of light and landscape whose turbulent genius transformed British painting. From his humble beginnings as a barber’s son to his reign as the Royal Academy’s most dazzling and most difficult star, Hamilton traces the extraordinary arc of an artist who painted the modern world into being: its storms and steamships, its wars and wonders.
Drawing on letters, sketchbooks, and fresh archival research, Hamilton reveals the private Turner behind the public legend — the secretive, restless traveler, the loyal friend, the shrewd businessman, and the radical innovator whose late, almost abstract visions of light left even his admirers breathless. His masterpieces, from The Fighting Temeraire to the late seascapes, emerge here in all their drama and mystery.
Vivid, scholarly, and deeply sympathetic, this acclaimed biography is essential reading for art lovers and history readers alike — the definitive portrait of a painter who saw further than anyone, and changed art forever.
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