William Turner (1775–1851) UK

William Turner was born in 1775 in London and is known as the “the painter of light.” Turner decided to become an artist already at the age of fourteen and was accepted one year later by the Royal Academy of Arts. He mainly painted watercolors during this time, and thanks to his talent these drawings were included in the Academy’s summer exhibition, despite his short course of study.
Turner traveled widely in his life, including France, where he studied at the Louvre, as well as Switzerland and Italy. Turner’s work is mainly characterized by romantic landscape paintings, the expression and style of which are said to be the forerunners of Impressionism. He is also said to be one of the founders of the English school of landscape painting in watercolor and he is perhaps best known for his watercolors.
Turner is one of the most valued artists in the world. His painting “The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius” sold in 2009 for SEK 103 million, which was the second highest amount ever paid for a British artist.