Turner, painter of great seascapes, looked a bit like a sailor; he called himself "Admiral Booth" among friends; he did virtuoso improvisations at the Royal Academy; he was frequently stung by critics, like the reviewer who accused him of painting with "soapsuds and whitewash." Wilton, curator of London's Tate Gallery, has assembled the known facts of Turner's life, interweaving passages from the artist's letters and notes, reviews and comments by contemporaries. Besides offering candid glimpses of an intensely private genius, this sumptuously illustrated study is especially valuable in briging to light little-known phases of his prolific, endlessly inventive career. Here are astonishing color experiments made on the Moselle River, huge monochrome pencil drawings, picturesque scenes of life on the road, brooding oils of architectural interiors, remarkable watercolors on blue paper, romantic mezzotints and a host of other marvels. (Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.)
來源: Google Book