William Turner of Oxford

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Stonehenge - Twilight (around 1840)

Mostly described as William Turner of Oxford or simply Turner of Oxford , William Turner ( November 12, 1789 in Black Bourton , England - August 7, 1862 in Oxford , England) was an English watercolorist who specialized in landscapes . He was a contemporary of his more famous colleague William Turner , proper Joseph Mallord William Turner , and his style was not dissimilar. William Turner of Oxford spent most of his life in Oxfordshire , which is where he found most of his motifs.

life and work

Turner was the oldest of three children and had two sisters. His parents died early, his father in 1791. At the age of almost 14 he came to his uncle, who was also called William Turner , in Burford , and later to Shipton-on-Cherwell . Because of his interest in drawing he ended up in the household of the well-known watercolorist and astrologer John Varley in London . In 1807 he had his first exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts , and in 1808 he was elected a member of the Royal Watercolor Society . He participated in their annual exhibitions until the end of his life.

Plaque on apartment building in Oxford

In 1810 Turner returned to Oxfordshire , initially to Woodstock . From 1811 he lived in Oxford or in the area. After his marriage to Elizabeth Flott in 1824, he moved again to Shipton-on-Cherwell, to St Clement's house on London Road. After the local parish church was destroyed in 1831, he designed a new neo-Gothic building in the Georgian style . In 1833 Turner and his wife settled in Oxford city center, at 16 St John Street , which he lived and where until his death. A blue plaque memorial plaque on this house has been a reminder of the artist since 2002 . William Turner and his wife are buried in the churchyard of Shipton-on-Cherwell Parish Church that he built. Since 1896 a commemorative rood screen in the church commemorates the deceased.

The future architect Thomas Graham Jackson , who studied at Wadham College and was tutored by Turner in 1857 and 1858, later recalled this “humble, unassuming man and artist of rare conscientiousness”, always dressed in black with a white tie , reminded of an old-school priest, and Jackson regretted that the man never "got the attention he deserved." Turner typically painted vast landscapes with dramatic cloud formations, often with sheep. He grew various plants in his garden so that he could create realistic images for the foreground of his watercolors.

One of his most famous works is the view of the city of Oxford from Hinkest Hill , currently privately owned.

Selection of some works

  • Newnham-on-Severn from Dean Hill

  • Shepherd Boy on a Hillside (about 1840)

  • Oxford from Hinksey Hill (about 1840)

  • Donati's Comet
    (around 1858–59)

  • Oxford from the River with Christ Church in the Foreground

  • A View of Oxford

  • Nuneham

Exhibitions, works in museums

In 1898 the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford made a retrospective of his work. Some of his works can still be seen in the museum's permanent exhibition. Another exhibition was in 1984 at the Oxfordshire County Museum in Woodstock . Turner's work can be found in numerous English and international collections, including the following museums:

literature

  • Nickola Lisle: A Pastoral Painter . In: The Oxford Times (Ed.): Oxfordshire Limited Edition . No. February 2007, 2007.
  • Sherwood, Jennifer, Pevsner, Nikolaus : Pevsner Architectural Guides # Buildings of England . Penguin Books , Harmondsworth 1974, ISBN 0-14-071045-0 , p. 757.
  • Baldry: William Turner of Oxford (no.11 Walkers Quarterly 1923)
  • Luke Herrman: William Turner of Oxford (1789–1862), Oxoniensia XXVI / XXVII, 1961–2
  • Hibbert: The Encyclopaedia of Oxford, 1988

Web links

Commons : William Turner of Oxford  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 757
  2. ^ Blue plaque to William Turner in St John Street, Oxford , accessed May 28, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Turner of Oxford, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Turner, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English watercolorist
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1789
PLACE OF BIRTH Black Bourton , England
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1862
Place of death Oxford , England