4105) Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 - 19 December 1851, Republic of Malta: 250th Birth Anniversary (1775-2025): Malta Coin Centre has issued a 10 Euro Silver Commemorative Coin featuring J.M.W.Turner as during on of his trips, he had visited Malta: Date/Year of Coin issue: 10/2025:
8) Ta' Hagrat Temples, Malta: "Maltese Pre-historic Temples Coin Series" depicting UNESCO World Heritage List featured Megalithic Temple Complexes in Malta: Fourth Coin in the Series: Date of issue: 22.07.2019
9) "Suez Canal": Central Bank of Malta issues a 150th Anniversary Silver commemorative Coin of 10 Euros (1869-2019), minted by the Royal Dutch Mint: Coin issue date: 18.11.2019
The "Knights of the Past" Silver Bullion Coin Series:
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist.
He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.
His artistic style developed over his lifetime, moving away from Romanticism—bypassing the following rising style of Realism—and, instead, with his later works being a significant precursor of and presaging the later Impressionist and Abstract Art movements that arose in the decades after his death.
He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper.
He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivaling history painting.
Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, to a modest lower-middle-class family and retained his lower-class accent, while assiduously avoiding the trappings of success and fame.
A child prodigy, Turner studied at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1789, enrolling when he was 14, and exhibited his first work there at 15.
During this period, he also served as an architectural draftsman.
He earned a steady income from commissions and sales, which he often only begrudgingly accepted owing to his troubled and contrary nature.
He opened his own gallery in 1804 and became professor of perspective at the academy in 1807, where he lectured until 1828.
He travelled around Europe from 1802, typically returning with voluminous sketchbooks.
Intensely private, eccentric, and reclusive, Turner was a controversial figure throughout his career.
He did not marry, but fathered two daughters, Evelina (1801–1874) and Georgiana (1811–1843), by the widow Sarah Danby.
He became more pessimistic and morose as he got older, especially after the death of his father in 1829; when his outlook deteriorated, his gallery fell into disrepair and neglect, and his art intensified.
In 1841, Turner rowed a boat into the Thames so he could not be counted as present at any property in that year's census.
He lived in squalor and poor health from 1845, and died in London in 1851 aged 76.
Turner is buried in St Paul's Cathedral, London.
JMW Turner renowned for his dramatic landscapes beat off competition from 590 painters, sculptors, fashion designers, photographers, film makers and actors put forward by some 30,000 members of the public.
Interestingly, the public was asked to nominate deceased cultural figures only.
The list included Alfred Hitchcock, Alexander McQueen, Derek Jarman, Laura Ashley, Francis Bacon, William Morris and Vanessa Bell, which was narrowed down by a select panel of artists, critics and historians to a final choice of five - Barbara Hepworth, Charlie Chaplin, Josiah Wedgewood, William Hogarth and JMW Turner - who were selected on the basis of their unquestioned contribution to both the visual arts and British Society as a whole, as well as, their enduring influence.
This is the first time that the public has been given a say over whose face appears on British Banknotes.
More about JMW Turner:
It was in 1786 AD, when he was sent to Margate, that his interest in painting and drawing the North-east Kent coast began. He would return to that coast throughout his life, describing it as - "the loveliest in all Europe".
Turner was a particularly prolific artist, producing more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours and 30,000 paper works over his lifetime.
Curiously, JMW Turner was known for never having actually signing any of his works, as such, his signature was copied from his last will and testament, which was a document bequeathing much of his works to the nation and is placed below his self-portrait.
Turner's contribution to art stretched well beyond his favourite stretch of shoreline. His paintings were transformative, his influence spanned lifetimes and his legacy endures today.
Joseph Mallord William Turner 250th Anniversary (1775 -1851) Silver Coin issue by Malta:
Joseph Mallord William Turner, better known as J.M.W. Turner, was one of Britain’s most celebrated artists and a true pioneer of modern landscape painting. Born in London in 1775, Turner showed extraordinary talent from a young age, sketching and selling his first works while still a child.
His career took him from early architectural studies and watercolours to becoming a Royal Academician by just 27 years old.
Known as the “Painter of Light,” Turner pushed the boundaries of art with his daring use of colour, atmosphere, and abstraction, influencing generations of artists and paving the way for Impressionism.
Among his many travels, Turner visited Malta in 1838. Inspired by the island’s luminous skies and historic harbour, he created breath-taking watercolours, including The Grand Harbour, c.1831, a work that captures the interplay of light and sea with unrivalled brilliance.
Maltese Coins has brought out a Silver Commemorative Coin, honouring the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), one of Britain’s greatest painters and a master of Romantic art.
The Reverse of the 10 Euro Silver Proof Coin features a front facing portrait of JMW Turner. The top peripheral inscriptions read - "250TH ANNIVERSARY OF J.M.W. TURNER - 1775-2025".
To the left is the denomination of the Coin - "10 EURO".
The Obverse of the 10 Euro Coin depicts the Coat of Arms/Emblem of Malta. The 12 Stars of the European Union are on the outer periphery.
The specifications of this Coin are:
Face value/Denomination: €10
Diameter/Size: 38.61mm
Weight: 31.10g or 1.00 oz
Metal Composition/Alloy: 0.999 silver
Coin Quality: Proof (P)
Mint: Royal Dutch Mint (RDM)
Minting Limit: 600 pc
Designer/Engraver: Noel Galea Bason
Issue date: October 2025
The 20 Pound Banknote issued by Bank of England:
Fittingly, the announcement of the new 20 Pound Banknote was made at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, which stands at the former site of Mrs. Booth's lodging house, where Turner would always stay when he visited. The Gallery is a permanent display venue in the picturesque seaside town of Margate on England's South-east coast.
Emblazoned on the Banknote is a quote from the artist - "light is therefore colour", along with his signature taken from his will, in which he bequeathed many of his works to the nation.
The 20 Pounds Banknote replaced the one featuring social philosopher and economic theorist Adam Smith and entered circulation on 20.02.2020.
Turner's self-portrait (made in 1799 AD) and currently on display in Tate Museum, Britain, predominantly featured on the Back of the Banknote.
- One of Turner's most eminent paintings "The Fighting Temeraire", a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire which played a distinguished role in Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting is currently on display in the National Gallery.
Some of his works:
_to_Warn_Steamboats_of_Shoal_Water.jpg)
8) Ta' Hagrat Temples, Malta: "Maltese Pre-historic Temples Coin Series" depicting UNESCO World Heritage List featured Megalithic Temple Complexes in Malta: Fourth Coin in the Series: Date of issue: 22.07.2019
9) "Suez Canal": Central Bank of Malta issues a 150th Anniversary Silver commemorative Coin of 10 Euros (1869-2019), minted by the Royal Dutch Mint: Coin issue date: 18.11.2019
The "Knights of the Past" Silver Bullion Coin Series:
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for sharing this interesting and informative post."
Thank you so much, Khanna sahab.
Delete