William Lakin Turner

William Lakin Turner
Children on a Bridge near Barrow on Trent
Born	25 February 1867 Barrow upon Trent
Died	21 October 1936 Sherborne, Dorset
Cause of death	cancer
Nationality	British
Occupation	Landscape painter

William Lakin Turner (25 February 1867 – 21 October 1936) was an English landscape artist.

Life and work

William Lakin Turner was born to George Turner and his wife, Eliza Turner (born Lakin) (1837–1900) in 1867 in Barrow upon Trent.^[1] He was educated locally before he boarded at Trent College. He was the eldest of four children and his talent for art followed his father's abilities. His father was a part-time farmer but he also painted landscapes and he had a number of successful students including David Payne and Louis Bosworth Hurt.^[2] He is not known to be related to the more well known artist J. M. W. Turner, but his father was known as "Derbyshire's John Constable".^[1] Turner met his first wife Rachel Selina (Lina) Burville whilst they were both studying art at West London College of Arts and they married locally in Chelsea in 1892.

Leith Hill by Turner

Turner's father served on the Art Committee of Derby Art Gallery and both his and his son's paintings^[1] are included in the city's collection.^[3] There are at least seven of his paintings in Derby.^[4] Turner lived at various places, including Fulham and Loughton, (Essex), but is best known for his paintings of the Lake District, where he resided for at least twelve years. When his father died in 1910 Turner received just 100 pounds as his father had remarried seven years before to Kate Stevens Smith who received the bulk of the estate. This behaviour was mirrored when four months after his own wife died, Turner made a new will in favour of a woman who quickly became his second wife. It is thought that Turner knew he had a terminal disease at the time of his marriage and he died of cancer months later in Sherborne, Dorset in 1936.^[1]

Legacy

William Lakin Turner displayed his work at several notable exhibitions. Turner exhibited hundreds of paintings including fourteen at The Royal Academy of Artists, four at the Royal Hibernian Academy and six in Birmingham. Between 1905 and 1936 he exhibited over 350 paintings at the Lake Artists Summer Exhibition as well as 81 paintings at the annual exhibition at Nottingham Castle. As a result, his paintings are available at the Museums in Nottingham, Nuneaton, Derby^[4] and the Ruskin Museum. Notable sales were to Beatrix Potter of a painting called Rydal Water which still hangs in her home which is owned by the National Trust and another which was used as a book cover.^[1]

Notes

1. William Lakin Turner, Levens History, accessed July 2011
2. "George Turner, British (1843–1910)". Langham Gallery. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
3. "George Turner". Burlington Art. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
4. "William Lakin Turner". BBC. Retrieved 22 July 2011.

External links