Henley Probus Club

AS our guest speaker was unfortunately unable to make it to Henley due to Storm Imogen, club member Tony Clark stepped in at very short notice and gave us an interesting talk and slide show on the life of the artist J W M Turner.

Turner was born at 21 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, in 1775 and came from a humble background — his father was a barber and his mother came from a family of butchers.

From the age of 12, Turner was much in demand as an artist and he displayed his pictures in the family’s shop window.

Throughout his life Turner travelled extensively, both in this country and on the continent, and in his early twenties he was attracted by the sea and ships.

He was a prolific artist, still working even after turning 60, when he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, right up to his death in 1851. He left 19,000 sketches and paintings to the Tate.