The English Romantic artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was hailed as the "painter of light" for his brilliantly colored landscapes and seascapes. He drew much influence from the French painter Claude Lorrain (c. 1604/5?-1682), who was a vital force in Turner's artistic practice from his formative years until the end of his working life. So great was Claude's influence that Turner stipulated in his will that his works hang alongside Claude's in the National Gallery, London. This book examines the ways in which Turner consistently strove to confront Claude's achievement and legacy. He had encountered Claude's works in salerooms and in the collections of his aristocratic patrons, and applied what he had learned to the British countryside, producing views of the Thames valley that transform it into an idyllic pastoral scene reminiscent of the Roman Campagna. For the balance of his career, Turner continued to pit himself against Claude, paying homage even as he continually sought to go beyond the accomplishments of his master.

J.M.W. Turner's elegant pencil sketches and watercolours of Venice are so poignant and evocative that the gentle sound of water lapping against gondolas can almost be heard when looking at them. In this beautiful selection, Ian Warrell employs the very finest examples of Turner's Venetian studies to either guide your next visit or awaken your memories of trips past. Join Turner as he progresses through the city, beginning at St. Mark's Basilica with the Campanile towering above and the coral-coloured exterior of the Doge's Palace. Drift onward toward the Bridge of Sighs and take a detour past the Hotel Europa where Turner preferred to stay. Travel onwards past the Giardini Reali, the Punta della Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute on your way to San Giorgio Maggiore and the Accademia. Drift away from the bustling markets around the Rialto on the Grand Canal heading toward the Frari and the Scuola di San Rocco, demonstrating the inspiration taken from Venetian masters such as Tintoretto and Veronese.

Up until a few years ago, biographies of both J.M.W. Turner and John Ruskin had claimed that, in 1858, Ruskin burned bundles of erotic paintings and drawings by Turner in a fit of embarrassed Victorian censorship, to protect Turner's posthumous reputation. Ruskin's friend Ralph Nicholson Wornum, who was Keeper of the National Gallery, was said to have colluded in the alleged destruction. However, in 2005 these works, which form part of the Turner Bequest held at Tate Britain, were re-appraised by Turner scholar Ian Warrell, who suggested that Ruskin and Wornum did not destroy the sketches and that almost all of the allegedly destroyed drawings are in the Tate collection. This lavishly illustrated book, the first exclusively devoted to Turner's erotic work, examines in detail this little known aspect of the artist's oeuvre. In his original essay, fully reproduced here, Warrell places the work within the context of Turner's social and artistic milieu, contemporary preoccupations with art for public and 'private' consumption, and the details and intricacies of Turner's life and output. An essential addition to the canon of work on Britain's most prolific and adored artist, this beautifully produced volume will be of interest to scholars, connoisseurs, and all Turner devotees.

An engaging look at one of the central motifs in the work of the great 19th-century painter Widely considered Britain's greatest painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) is best known for his light-filled landscapes and seascapes. A relentless traveler, Turner often turned his artistic attention to the theme of modern and ancient ports. In the mid-1820s, Turner exhibited two monumental, and controversial, paintings of ports: Cologne and Dieppe. Shocking for their intense luminosity and yellow tonality, as well as for Turner's unorthodox handling of paint, these works marked a transition in the artist's career as he moved away from naturalism and toward a new, poetic topography. This in-depth study of these two seminal paintings also addresses a wide selection of Turner's works in both oil and watercolor from the 1820s, placing them in the context of radical changes in British social and economic structures taking place at the time. Drawing from period travel accounts, contemporary critical commentary, and new technical analyses of Turner's work, this magnificently illustrated book brings a fresh, new perspective to the pivotal middle years of Turner's career. Published in association with The Frick Collection Exhibition Schedule: The Frick Collection, New York (02/22/17- 05/14/17)