J.M.W. Turner painted some of the most exciting and best-loved images in all Western art. Yet this is the first major exhibition of Turner's oils and watercolours to be held in Australia; it comes three decades after the only other exhibition in Australia of his oil paintings, and a decade after the last major exhibition here of his watercolours. The remarkably enthusiastic response to our proposal to assemble a new exhibition of Turner's work has reinforced our belief that he continues to occupy a special place in people's affections.

Fifty years before impressionism, J.W.M. Turner brought a sense of light and a lightness of brush to landscape painting that have remained unequaled. In an eponymous collection documenting this year's exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, editor and curator Michael Lloyd has assembled 150 color illustrations and 10 scholarly yet accessible essays, which together serve as a fine introduction to the career of this great artist. Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information.