Jane Austen's Contemporary: 250 Years of Turner

Portrait of J.M.W. Turner by Charles Turner, Wikimedia Commons

Jane Austen is not the only celebrated Brit turning 250 this year! Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner was born just months before our favourite author, so we thought it would be interesting to have a look at the life of one of Austen's closest (in age) contemporaries.

In the bustling hub of London's Covent Garden, Joseph Turner was born around 23rd April 1775 to William, a wig-maker and barber, and his wife Mary. William was a Devonshire transplant, but Mary was a born-and-bred Londoner, hailing from a family of established London butchers and shopkeepers. After spending his early childhood in the midst of Georgian London, Joseph was sent to Brentford to live with his uncle due to his mother's failing mental health. He was then carted off to Margate, Kent, before heading up to Oxfordshire, where his uncle had retired. Joseph showed artistic promise from a young age, with his father selling some of his early works from his shop window and boasting to others of his son's extraordinary talent.

And extraordinary it was -- Turner was admitted to the Royal Academy at only 14 years old, and exhibited in his first Summer exhibition the following year. His watercolours were exhibited throughout his study at the Academy, and in 1796 he started experimenting with oils.

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Turner's first oil, Fishermen at Sea

Turner's talents and commissions rapidly expanded, with his interests in landscapes, architecture and history influencing his evolving style. He was able to fund his study through commissions, and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1799. Recognised as a prodigy, Turner never forgot his roots, and is known to have retained his Cockney accent throughout his life. He continued developing his landscape style, leaning into the grand atmospherics of the Romantic style.

The middle years of Turner's career show him leaning into the Romantic style to create sweeping paintings of scenes from history and literature, his attention to landscape and forces of nature lending his work an epic, grandiose feel. Turner travelled widely to gain inspiration from his work, spending time particularly in Italy, where he continued to develop his almost watercolour-like oil painting style.

J.M.W. Turner: Rain, Steam, and Speed—the Great Western Railway

In his later years, Turner grew secretive and withdrawn, resigning his professorship at the RA in 1838. He lived on the banks of the Thames at Chelsea with a widow, whose surname he adopted. He remained prolific, taking on an interest in the burgeoning Industrial Revolution, depicting new technologies such as the railways in amongst his usual natural landscapes.

Turner died in 1851 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, leaving his fortune to 'decayed artists' and his finished paintings to the National Gallery in a donation to the country known as the Turner Bequest. A specialist space to house these works would not be built until 1908, when Sir Joseph Duveen built a space to house them at the Tate Britain in Pimlico.

Though it is unlikely that Turner and Austen crossed paths, the juxtaposition of their works can help to furnish our knowledge and understanding of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including perspectives on the architecture and technology of the time. A new exhibition exploring Austen and Turner's perspectives on the English Country house will run at Harewood House from May to October 2025. You can find out more about the exhibition here.

Ellen White is editor of the Jane Austen Centre blog. She would love to hear from you! Check out our Submission Guidelines and get in touch.

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