Standing in the Sun: A Life of J.M.W. Turner

Back in print after a decade, this book, which A. S. Byatt called “a pleasure to read,” explores the life of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), Britain’s most mysterious painter, whose range of work encompasses seascapes and landscapes, executed in both immensely powerful oil paintings and intimate watercolors. Anthony Bailey crafts what the Guardian called a “very fine portrait” of Turner, the short and stout son of a Covent Garden barber, who achieved fame and fortune during his lifetime and wh...