Why 19th-century British painter William Turner was the chronicler of his time

William Turner, born in London in 1775, is considered one of the greatest painters of the Romantic period. He painted many idyllic scenes, like this one of a market in Wolverhampton. But throughout his life the artist also witnessed great social upheavals, from the industrial revolution to different wars, which he vividly depicted on canvas.

When Turner was born, the horse was still the fastest means of transportation. That changed dramatically with the advent of the steam locomotive. Amid the British stock market bubble frenzy known as the Railway Mania in the 1840s, William Turner was the first prominent artist to capture the steam locomotive in his paintings, showing in this case how it could defy wind and rain.

Turner depicted the struggle of machine vs. nature as a ship fights to stay afloat amidst a raging storm. To create the painting "Snow Storm," Turner is reported to have chained himself to the mast to get the full experience. Although experts have been unable to prove that the rumor is true, his work certainly makes one feel as if they are experiencing the dizzying scene up close.

In 1805, the HMS Temeraire belonged to the fleet of Admiral Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar. The vessel came to the aid of the hard-pressed flagship HMS Victory in battle and thus contributed significantly to the Royal Navy's victory over the French-Spanish Armada. Turner captured the ship's sad end here in 1838, documenting when she was towed to the wreckage by a steamboat.

For much of Turner's life, Great Britain was at war — which inspired him to create a series of spectacular works. He painted the legendary Battle of Trafalgar several times, as in this dramatic work. Here, sails and cannon smoke create a chaotic atmosphere in the midst of the battle, bringing viewers directly into the center of the action.

The Battle of Waterloo, in which the allied troops under the General Wellington and the Prussian Field Marshal Blücher defeated Napoleon, has been immortalized by many artists, Turner among them. The painter also visited the battlefield and did a series of sketches, which he used for this watercolor. In it, the bodies of the dead are illuminated by sunlight in an almost supernatural fashion.

Turner was also present during the fire in the British parliament in 1834 and captured the event from several different perspectives. This watercolor is one of 160 central works by the artist shown in the exhibition "Turner's Modern World" at the Tate Britain. It can be seen in London until March 7, 2021.