J.M.W. Turner and The Fishermen at Sea

'The Fishermen at Sea' (1796) by J.M.W. Turner; Tate Gallery, London

A long long time ago, when I visited the Tate Britain in London for the very first time, I found many paintings by the English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner. At that time I had never heard of him and his paintings did not impress me much either. Over many years I have grown to appreciate and like landscape paintings. Especially when there is an added element, like incredible light. Turner is probably the best loved English Romantic artist and known as 'the painter of light'. He was influenced by 17th-century Dutch painting, especially artists like Willem van de Velde. He was extremely productive in his life, with over 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 paper works. Wikipedia has a note on his date of birth, 23 April 1775, the date of St George's Day and the birthday of Shakespeare. Turner was said to be born around the end of April, the beginning of May, 1775, but he himself claimed to be born on the 23rd of April. The claim however had never been verified.