Joseph Turner The Sublime

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A key contributor to the art scene in the 19th Century, Joseph Mallord William Turner will popularize landscape paintings by shattering the normalcy of traditional romantic works with the Sublime, a philosophical and aesthetic concept created by Edmond Burke. The Sublime is best illustrated by Joseph William Turner's works, as a mixture of order, proportion, balance, harmony, terror, and gloom that convey the overwhelming force of nature. Although Burke was the one to create the art style, Turner's landscapes are ultimately the definition of Sublime. Born in 1775, Turner would start as a gifted academic painter, but would go on to adapt a more abstract, atmospheric form. Later in life, he would go on to evolve the Sublime, much to the distaste …show more content…
He told Fawkes, “In two years, you will see these sketches transformed into a painting called 'Hannibal crossing the Alps'.” (THE ARTWOLF.com) which would be unveiled at the Royal Academy in 1812. This work, re-titled Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army crossing the Alps, would be one of his most ambitious works and puts forth Turner's talent as a painter of the Romantic Sublime. The painting is a work that depicts Hannibal and his men struggle to cross the Alps. What's most striking about the work is the large, black, swirling storm cloud that encapsulates the tiny yellow-orange sun, as it is about to descend onto the soldiers. In the background to the left, there is an avalanche taking place on the snowy white mountains. Hannibal is not clearly depicted in this scene. Much like Turner's work previously mentioned, the humans are miniscule in contrast to the dark, chaotic storm cloud above them. As Turner typically would, the work breaks the laws of traditional composition, though the painting was critically acclaimed for its Sublime nature, mixing terror with magnificence and
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