Filled with brilliant reproductions and engaging texts reflecting the latest scholarship, this portable and attractively priced volume is the perfect introduction to one of the most important pioneers of modernism in Britain and beyond. Joseph Mallord William Turner is considered a trailblazer of modernism in Europe. More than almost any other artist in the first half of the nineteenth century, he succeeded in making atmosphere and color the defining elements of his paintings. His world-famous landscapes, seascapes and vedute bear witness to his virtuoso use of light; the figurative seems to dissolve in favor of mood. This book cements Turner's reputation as a role model for the Impressionists and a forerunner of abstraction. An introductory essay sheds light on Turner's life and work within a historical context, while selected paintings and watercolors are examined in detail.