Turner

(Art & Ideas series). In this in-depth survey of the London-born artist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), Barry Venning argues that it is necessary to look at Turner's work in its original contexts in order to understand the painter's creative decisions. Turner's extensive travels brought him to witness far-reaching transformations of industrial society, but he also made a lifelong study of natural forms and phenomena, all of which grave rise to paintings that are as rich in meanings as they are in visual effects. Glossary, Brief Biographies, Ey Dates, Further Reading, Index. 197 color/b&w illus. 352p.