Then there was light: Turner's irridescent tableaux In the work ofJoseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)lies an impact akin to a sudden acquisition of sight. His landscapes and seascapes scorch the eye with suchravishing light and color, with such elemental force, it is as if the sun itself were gleaming out of the frame.Appropriately known as the painter of light, Turner worked in print, watercolor, and oils totransform landscape from serene contemplative scenes to pictures pulsating with life. He anchored his life and work to the river Thames and to the sea, but in the historical context...