Above: Norham Castle.

AN Angel Standing in the Sun

A Life Of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) by Derek Dey © November 2000

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INTRODUCTION; Turner used the spiral frequently as a compositional device. When his unresolved issues and needs arose and the artist sank into his psychopathology, his torment created the reverse. His spiral turned to vortex powerfully symbolizing the internal dissolution of a vision that could be described as paradisiacal and prophetic.

Turner worked at the same time as Constable. In Constable we see the fulfillment of an enduring tradition of landscape painting. Indeed, so well crafted were the works of Constable, that meteorologist of our time can accurately describe the climate of England in the early part of the nineteenth century. Turner was the revolutionary who heralded the new. He foresaw the world of process philosophy which later would deal more effectively with a theory of creativity.

He approached eastern philosophy as the Impressionists were soon to do more fully. In fact it would not be completely wrong to call Turner the first Impressionist especially with regard to his mid and later period which was so profoundly colored by his experiences with light, in the city of Venice.

Finally, Turner managed to unveil a metaphysical underpinning of the act of creation. It is apparent in his work "Norham Castle" as it is in "Rain Steam and Speed" and in countless others including "Cockermouth Castle" and the "Venice Watercolors." In these we glimpse not just this world but something of another in near platonic and abstract terms and in terms of modern physics.

Turner's work was created from passion. He lived in an age of passion; the Age of the Romantic Revolution. Turner's age encompassed the political revolutions of Europe, the Industrial Revolution, social and agrarian revolutions and all the cross-cultural influences which began to color the European world.

Turner was also a well traveled man. The revolution of rail and steam opened the countryside to new areas of exploration. In his own life he saw the dirt streets of London paved and lit by lamps. The Americas were lost to the Empire but in other parts of the world the British continued to expand their influence. The population grew rapidly and the first omnibus was introduced to London streets. He journeyed through France, the Alps and on to Venice. For the most part, these immense changes were well-received by Turner. The dynamics of the age were imported and paralleled in his works. The process which emerged allowed myth and the pulse of his life and times to become inseparable from the rich field of his paintings.

His passions were also enmeshed with the environment of his early beginnings. From his home in Maiden Lane he could easily be over to Covent Garden or down by the banks of the River Thames. Colorful confusion and the jumble of masts and rigging from seagoing vessels were ingrained into his early memories; and stayed with him for the rest of his life. This and more became the imagery which surfaced into his work repeatedly. With his parents, however, growing up was not such a richly textured adventure. Mary Turner, his mother, was a woman given to fits of rages. Turner himself was never heard to even mention her name; by 1800 Mary Turner was admitted to Bethlehem hospital as a hopeless case, where she ultimately died incurably insane, four years later.

Turners father endured as a lifelong companion but this too, seemed to carry a certain uneasy edge. In Turner's words, "Dad never praised me for anything but saving a half penny." The father's role as a business manager probably did little to address Turner's emotional needs. From Turner's childhood his father exhibited and sold drawings by the budding artist, from his barbershop in Maiden Lane. Almost certainly, the young Turner grew up with great insecurity. In the light of his mother's madness, he developed a great distrust of women and of the love embodied and symbolized by women. In a later sketchbook, penciled in by the side of a life drawing, appears the words, " Woman is doubtful love." The unmet needs, and the distrust of feminine love became the paradox of his life. (continued)

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