The definitive biography of J.M.W. Turner.

'A pleasure to read'.' A.S. BYATT

'With splendid clarity and shrewd humour, James Hamilton evokes the visceral world of a great artist and a fascinating character.' MIKE LEIGH

In 1799, aged just 24, Turner became an Associate of the Royal Academy. While influential collectors competed to buy his paintings, he travelled widely, observing landscape and people and gathering material for a cycle of images that would come to express the collective identity of Britain.

In this lucid blend of vibrant biography and acute art history, James Hamilton introduces Turner to a new generation of readers and paints a picture of a uniquely generous human being, a giant of the nineteenth century and a beacon for the twenty-first.

A source of inspiration for Mike Leigh's MR TURNER, in this blend of biography and art history, the author introduces Turner to a new generation, dispels many myths, and depicts him as a giant of the 19th century and a beacon for the 21st.

About the Author
James Hamilton is an art historian with a passion for science too. He has curated many exhibitions, including various Turner exhibitions. He works at the University of Birmingham.

Reviews
A pleasure to read. -- A.S. Byatt * Sunday Express *
Hamilton's life gives us a real person ... comprehensibly human and belonging clearly in the England of his time. -- Duncan Macmillan * Scotsman *
Hamilton writes ... with gusto, bringing Turner to vivid three-dimensional life. * The Times *
Turner was a phenomenon, a one-man artistic revolution whose energy can be felt through the pages of this inspiring biography. -- Alan Judd * Daily Telegraph *
Hamilton's readable, unshowy life ... excellent. -- Philip Hensher * Mail on Sunday *
An excellent biography - revealing on the life, perceptive on the art. * Independent on Sunday *
Admirably clear -- Desmond Shawe-Taylor * Observer *
A richly detailed biography . . . Hamilton maintains a steady course between academic respectability and an allowance for the drama and poignancy so clearly central to an accurate portrait of the subject * Los Angeles Times *
Very satisfying . . . detailed, judicious and confidently grounded in the period * Washington Post *
Lively * New Yorker *
Well researched and fluidly written * New York Review of Books *
With splendid clarity and shrewd humour, James Hamilton evokes the visceral world of a great artist and a fascinating character. * Mike Leigh *



Book Information
ISBN 9780340628119
Author James Hamilton
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Sceptre
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Weight(grams) 287g
Dimensions(mm) 199mm * 147mm * 26mm