Calais Pier

1801

The triumph of the “Bridgewater Sea Piece” at the Academy

“Dutch Boats in a Gale” (the “Bridgewater Sea Piece”), commissioned for 250 guineas by the Duke of Bridgewater, one of the richest men in England, “took the Academy by storm” and was hung in the best location of the whole exhibition: in the Great Room, centred, opposite the entrance.

1801

Birth of Evelina, Sarah Danby’s daughter

Turner never married, but is generally believed to have been the father of the two older daughters of his housekeeper, the widow Sarah Danby — Evelina (born 1801) and Georgiana; their discreet relationship lasted twelve years.

10 February 1802

Becomes a Royal Academician

On 10 February 1802 he was granted the title of Royal Academician, which gave him the right to exhibit without passing the selection committee that previewed all works.

1802–1803

Paris and the Swiss Alps in a year of peace

In the only year without war in Europe between 1793 and 1814 (the Peace of Amiens, 1802–1803) a consortium of noblemen sponsored a visit to Paris, where he saw old master paintings in the Louvre, and then he toured the Swiss Alps; his Alpine sketches later let him represent “the sublime” in paintings such as “Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps” (1812).

1804

Opens his own gallery

Distrustful of dealers, he opened his own gallery so that he could sell directly and group the pictures he wanted seen together, something he could not control at the Royal Academy exhibitions; his father left his barbershop to help in the gallery and studio. For over a decade the gallery was a regular feature of the London exhibition season.

1804

His mother dies in Bethlem Hospital

His mother, Mary Marshall, whose symptoms of mental disorder grew worse, had to be placed by his father in St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics; she was later moved to Bethlem Hospital, commonly known as “bedlam”, where she died in 1804.