Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775[1] – 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Although Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, he is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner

"The Slave Ship" or "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying — Typhon coming on" is a painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner, first exhibited in 1840.

The subject of the painting is the practice of 18th century slave traders who would throw the dead and dying human 'cargo' overboard during the middle passage in the Atlantic Ocean in order that they might claim the insurance for 'drowning'. By painting such an emotive subject Turner was attempting to assist in the abolitionist campaign. The violent power of the sea and the strange sea creatures represent the forces of nature punishing the guilty. The painting was widely admired for its use of color and the way in which sea and sky merge around the distant ship. In the lower portion of the painting, hands of enslaved Africans can be seen still shackled. The painting is currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA.

Here are some other web-pages dedicated to William Turner.

Turner wins 'great painting' vote 

The Fighting Temeraire was one of 10 paintings shortlisted
The Fighting Temeraire by Turner has beaten works by Van Gogh, Hogarth and David Hockney to be named the greatest painting in Britain in a public vote. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4214824.stm

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