Turner on the Seine

Long before the Impressionists began to paint on the River Seine, J. M. W. Turner produced a group of forty views that defined the river's appearance for his generation. It is this set of vibrantly coloured and technically brilliant designs, first published in 1834 and 1835, that forms the subject of this book.
The book demonstrates how Turner's respect for the great French landscape painters of the past went hand in hand with the uncompromising modernity of his approach to the project, where he concentrated on the new steamboats plying the Seine, a recent innovation in river transport.

Ian Warrell is a Curator at the Tate Gallery.