James Hamilton - Turner

[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 his subject.

Los Angeles Times

[A] lively biography.

The New Yorker

Recommended.

The New York Observer

Very satisfying We are given a credible, useful image of a life, a career and a body of work.

The Washington Post Book World

[Hamilton] gives us a lively picture in which his thorough research rarely weighs down a speedy narrative rich in anecdote, with just the right balance of facts and analysis.

The Seattle Times

Well researched and fluently written.

The New York Review of Books

[Turner] provides two things well: a history of an artist's career, told through descriptions and analysis of the paintings themselves; and a lively picture of Turner's personality and his immediate circle.

The New Republic

A splendid, masterful portrait of the master painter Belongs in every art lover's library.

Kirkus Reviews (starred)

Through in-depth and thoroughly enjoyable analyses of Turner's many travel sketchbooks, Hamilton provides a wealth of information and insights.

Booklist

[Hamilton's] writing soars. Turner is a fascinating subject, and Hamilton is an erudite commentator.

The Columbus Dispatch

[An] affectionate, dignified study [of Turner].

Publishers Weekly

[Turner] is a fine example of biography and art history. [With] newly discovered material Many of Turner's most important paintings are examined with a fresh insight in an elegant and fine scholarly style.

Library Journal

Hamilton's descriptions of the paintings are deft and considered. You do not have to be an artist or art historian to enjoy this book.

The Daily Telegraph (London)

[Hamilton brings] a fresh eye to Turner's voluminous notebooks.

Times Metro Magazine (London)

[Turner] is a reassessment for a new generation of this landscape painter.

Middlesbrough Evening Gazette

A valuable source of reference which can be used time and again.

This England

[A] fascinating analysis.

The Sunday Telegraph (London)

Excellent.

The Mail on Sunday

[A] splendid book Part spirited biography, part shrewd cultural history This book can be enjoyed by anyone who values great art.

South China Morning Post

An excellent biographyrevealing on the life, perceptive on the art.

Independent Saturday Magazine

In [Turner] the paintings come to life.

The Guardian

For emphasis on artistic practice, development and context, the acute and knowledgeable art-historically-tilted approach by Mr. Hamilton has the edge.

The Art Newspaper

[Hamilton] finds a route into Turner's innermost thoughts.

The Tablet

Turner was a phenomenon whose energy can be felt through the pages of this inspiring biography.

The Daily Telegraph

Brilliant.

Eastern Daily Press

Hamilton writes with gusto, bringing Turner to vivid, three-dimensional life.

The Times (London)

Hamilton's [Turner] gives us a real person, driven by an astonishing vision.

The Scotsman

Mr. Hamilton's unconventional portrait of Faraday is welcome.

The Wall Street Journal

Hamilton conveys the excitement of doing science in the nineteenth century.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Hamilton does justice both to a most likable and unusual man and to a nation in an era of exciting innovation in science and technology. [A] beguiling portrait of a man and his era.

Los Angeles Times

[A] vivid look at the man who helped establish the laws of electromagnetism.

Publishers Weekly

[An] enthusiastic [and] unconventional biography of Faraday.

The Record

Appendix 1:

Appendix 2:

Appendix 3:

Illustrations in Text

Self-Portrait. Turner aged about 23, c. 1799.	iii
Turner's birthplace, 1852.	8
Turner prepares for a journey.	35
Page from Royal Academy exhibition catalog, 1798.	59
Plan of Turner's property at 64 Harley Street, c. 1809.	102
Sale particulars for Lee Clump.	118
Benjamin Robert Haydon, Study of Sir George Beaumont Looking at a Picture, 1814	127
Musical notation, from the Tabley, number 3, sketchbook, 1808.	129
Title page of Modern Painters by John Ruskin, 1843.	359

Illustrations in Insert (following page 228)

Studies of Sandycombe Lodge, c. 181011.

Two women in bed, 1802.

Venus and Adonis, c. 18031805.

Seated nude, c. 1804.

The Staircase, Farnley Hall, c. 1818.

Lovers, 1830s.

The Old Library Staircase, Petworth, 1830s.

Self-Portrait, Aged about Fifteen, 1791.

Charles Turner (attrib.), Portrait of William Turner, 1820s.

George Dance RA, J.M.W. Turner ARA, 1800.

Charles Turner, A Sweet TemperPortrait of J.M.W. Turner, c. 1800.

John Varley, Walter Fawkes, c. 1820.

Thomas Richmond, Portrait of John Ruskin, 184041.

Richard Dighton, J.M.W. Turner, 1827.

S. W. Parrott, Turner on Varnishing Day, late 1830s40s.

John Linnell, J.M.W. Turner, 1838.

Charles Hutton Lear, J.M.W. Turner, 1847.

W. F. Wells, Portrait of the artist's daughter, Clarissa, 1801.

Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham, photographed in 1995.

47 Queen Anne Street West, photographed in the 1880s.

George Jones, RA, Interior of Turner's GalleryThe Artist Showing His Works, late 1840s.

St Erasmus and Bishop Islip's Chapels, Westminster Abbey, exhibited 1776.

St Mary's and the Radcliffe Camera from Oriel Lane, Oxford, c. 1800.

The Archbishop's Palace, Lambeth, exhibited 1790.

The Festival upon the Opening of the Vintage of Macon, exhibited 1803.