J. M. W. Turner
![](/Images/godic/202502/18/Turner_selfportrait0824.jpg")
![The house in Maiden Lane where Turner was born, c.1850's](/Images/godic/202502/18/DV307_no.70_House_where_Turner_was_born,_from_a_print0824.png")
![Drawing of St John's Church, Margate by Turner from around 1786, when he would have been 11 or 12 years old. The ambitious but unsure drawing shows an early struggle with perspective, which can be contrasted with his later work](/Images/godic/202502/18/St_John's_Church,_Margate0824.jpg")
![A View of the Archbishop's Palace, Lambeth – this watercolour was Turner's first to be accepted for the Royal Academy's annual exhibition in April 1790, the month he turned 15. The image is a technical presentation of Turner's strong grasp of the elements of perspective with several buildings at sharp angles to each other, demonstrating Turner's thorough mastery of Thomas Malton's topographical style.[7]](/Images/godic/202502/18/A_View_of_the_Archbishop's_Palace,_Lambeth0824.jpg")
Joseph Mallord William Turner, RA (baptised 14 May 1775 –19 December 1851) was an English Romanticist landscape painter. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.