The Oxford Companion to J. M. W. Turner (Oxford Companions) - Hardcover

absorbing and important volume (Byron Ireland, Day by Day 02/01)

this is a remarkable achievement, and will be a major resource for Turner scholars (Lindsay Stainton , Spectator 10/03/01)

excellent (Maggie Gee, New Statesman 19/02/01)

The first ever authoritative guide to Turner and all aspects of his art

J. M. W. Turner is generally acknowledged not only as Britain's greatest painter, but as one of the finest and most original of all landscape painters. His long life and exceptionally large and varied oeuvre has created a body of art, and accompanying literature and primary sources, that are daunting and often inaccessible to the scholar and Turner enthusiast alike. The Oxford Companion to J. M. W. Turner, the first reference work devoted entirely to this artist, is an authoritative guide to every aspect of Turner's life, his art, his reception past and present, and the cultural, social, and political context in which he worked. Written by a team of the foremost Turner scholars in the world, the Companion presents the very latest information available, in a form that is both easy to use and enjoyable to read.

Over 760 alphabetical entries offer
* the fullest possible accounts of the private and public life of this baffling and secretive man - his family and friends, his mistresses and children; his interests and travels, patrons and associates, his will and bequest
* details of his working methods; his stylistic development; the artists who influenced and inspired him, and those whom he influenced in turn; pupils and assistants; exhibitions during his lifetime, and the prices paid for his pictures
* full coverage of the subjects and topographies depicted in his art, from Walter Scott's country house at Abbotsford to his panoramic views of Zurich
* over 100 entries on the most important individual works and groups of works-oils, watercolours, and engravings, both exhibited and unexhibited
* contextual coverage of contemporary artists, literary influences, political events and the issues of his day, from slavery to the Sublime
* a complete account of past and modern Turner scholarship, and of important exhibitions, public and private collections, dealers and the market for his art today

WITH: EXQUISITE COLOUR PLATES; CHRONOLOGY OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES; EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY; LISTING OF PUBLIC COLLECTIONS WITH WORKS BY TURNER