Publisher's Synopsis
A revealing new portrait of J.M.W. Turner and the man behind the art, uncovering fresh material and shedding new light on this complicated and secretive artistic figure.
The son of a Covent garden barber and a woman who died in Bethlehem Hospital, Turner achieved fame and fortune during his lifetime. Although he possessed a wide-ranging imagination, he was an often incoherent speaker and writer, and his muddled will produced much discord - it is a wonder that, despite avaricious relatives and incompetent lawyers, so many of his works are now in the hands of the nation, and publicly proclaim his genius. In this riveting and revelatory biography, Anthony Bailey has drawn upon archival material, scholarly literature and research, as well as studying many of Turner's sketchbooks, paintings and watercolours, to shed new light on this complicated and secretive artistic figure.
