William Turner (29 November 1789 – 7 August 1862) was an English painter who specialised in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

landscapes. He is often known as William Turner of Oxford or just Turner of Oxford to distinguish him from his contemporary,

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

(known as William). Many of Turner's paintings depicted the countryside around Oxford. One of his best known pictures is a view of the city of Oxford from

Hinksey Hill Hinksey Hill is a hill and residential area south of the centre of Oxford. It is in South Hinksey civil parish, about south of the village. Hinksey Hill was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. ...

. In 1898, the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

in Oxford held a retrospective exhibition of his work. Some of his paintings are still on permanent display at the museum. In 1984, the

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...

presented his work in an exhibition at the Oxfordshire County Museum in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. His paintings are also held in national and international collections, for example at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

(London, UK), the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

(New York City, US) and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Life

Turner was born at

Black Bourton Black Bourton is a village and civil parish about south of Carterton, Oxfordshire. The village is on Black Bourton Brook, a tributary of the River Thames. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 266. RAF Brize Norton adjoins the par ...

, Oxfordshire. He was the eldest of three children, and had two younger sisters. His father died in 1791, and he was raised during this early part of his life by his mother. In 1803, he went to live with his uncle, also called William Turner. Initially they lived in

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds, Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeas ...

but in 1804 moved to the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Shipton-on-Cherwell Shipton-on-Cherwell is a village on the River Cherwell about north of Kidlington in Oxfordshire, England. The village is part of the civil parish of Shipton-on-Cherwell and Thrupp. Manor The earliest known record of Shipton-on-Cherwell is fr ...

Because of his interest in drawing, Turner joined

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

in London. In 1807, he had his first exhibition at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. He was elected as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1808 and for the rest of his life participated in their yearly exhibitions. In 1810, Turner returned to Oxfordshire. He lived in

until 1811. After that he lived in and around Oxford. In 1824 Turner married Elizabeth Ilott at Shipton-on-Cherwell and lived at London Road, St Clement's. From 1833 onwards, he lived at 16 St John Street in central Oxford. In 1831, the parish church at Shipton-on-Cherwell was demolished and a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church designed in a Decorated Gothic style by William Turner was built in its place. Turner died at his home in St John Street, Oxford in 1862. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

marks the house where he lived.Blue plaque to William Turner in St John Street, Oxford
/ref> William and his wife are buried in Holy Cross parish churchyard at Shipton-on-Cherwell. In 1896 a memorial

chancel screen In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Over ...

was installed in the church, with a brass plaque reading "''Erected in memory of William Turner of Oxford, Water Colour Painter and architect of this church.''"

References

Sources

External links

Paintings
in the

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' by William Turner *

' by William Turner in the

, New York City {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, William 1789 births 1862 deaths 19th-century English painters People from West Oxfordshire District Artists from Oxfordshire English male painters English watercolourists English landscape painters Culture in Oxford 19th-century English male artists Burials in Oxfordshire