This Lecture will be held on Tuesday 6th March 2012 at 11.00a.m. at The Queen's Hall, Narberth .

The Sun is God” Turner, Ruskin and “Modern Painters

Over Turner's long career, he travelled extensively and sought to experience the nature he was depicting through his art. It was said that he literally tied himself to the mast of a ship to experience the force of a storm before painting it. He loved to paint ships, violent storms, fires, fog. As his work matured, it became almost impressionistic in style and many believe he laid the foundation for the French Impressionist painters to come. In his later years he became quite withdrawn and eccentric. At the end of his life at age of 76, his last words were "The Sun is God". He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. It's ironic that he was routinely referred to as the "Painter of Light".

John Ruskin, an influential art critic of the time, claimed that no one but Turner could "most stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of nature". Turner, along with William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, and John Constable are considered by many, to be the greatest English landscape artists of their time.

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Lecturer: Professor Michael Wheeler