Painting Set Free: (April 17) The World of J. M. W. Turner

J.M.W. Turner’s luminous, shimmering paintings shocked the Victorians and paved the way for 20th century art. This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Britian’s greatest landscape and seascape painter. Joseph Mallord William Turner’s virutoso use of light and color and sometimes shocking choice of subject matter continue to shape painters around the world today. Not always accepting of the changes around him, Turner’s lifetime spanned the steam age, the Napoleonic wars, expansion of an empire, political reforms and technological advances that transformed society and shaped the modern world. Join us as we explore how Turner engaged with the events that he witnessed and in the process created pictures that still feel relevant today.

Maria Mack D’Amario is an art historian specializing in European decorative arts and the American Gilded Age. A graduate of Denison University, Maria holds a post-graduate diploma in the history of art from the University of Oxford. She also holds an M.A. in the Venetian Renaissance from the University of Warwick in Coventry, United Kingdom. Maria has worked with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Royal Collection Trust and Lots Road Galleries. She has served as trustee and steering committee member of the U.K. Friends of the National Museum of Women in The Arts in Washington, D.C.  Currently, Maria works for the Preservation Society of Newport County.