Crossing the Brook* (1815) : Turner developed this painting of the Tamar valley (a beautiful part of Devon that sits just west of the Dartmoor National Park) from sketches he made in Devon in 1811 and 1813. There is a single figure playing by the river, with a dog semi-immersed in the water. This provides a relaxing atmosphere, one of calmness as we look out across the rest of the scene. His watercolours and drawings of the area were fresh and informal. Here he creates a more self-consciously artful image. This was meant to evoke the 17th-century classical landscapes of French painter Claude Lorrain. The painting was exhibited in the year of the battle of Waterloo. Viewers at the time would have been alert to the patriotic subtext of such an imposing depiction of the British landscape. *JMW (Joseph Mallord William) TURNER (1775-1851) was one of the most important English Romantic Painters of the 19th century. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. Turner's imagination was sparked by shipwrecks, fires, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power, turbulence and tidestorms of the sea. It's said that his last words before death were, 'The Sun is God!'