English Romantic Lanscape Painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism is one of my favorite painters of all time. He has been descibed as the artist who could "most stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature." Turner was inspired by shipwrecks, fires, natural catastrophes, and natural phenomena (sunlight, storms, rain, and fog) he was most fascinated by the violent power of the sea.
"Turner placed human beings in many of his paintings to indicate his affection for humanity, but its vulnerability and vulgarity amid the 'sublime' nature of the world. (sublime in this context meaning, awes-inspiring, display of savage grandeur, a natural world unmastered by man.... evidence of the power of God....) The significance of light was to Turner the emanation of God's spirit, concentrating on the play of light on water, and the radiance of skies and fires often leaving out solid objects and details. Turner was striving for expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena."
("Peace - Burial At Sea")
