British Romantic painter who was one of the most original painters of landscapes and seascapes in Europe. He invented new techniques to make skies and clouds look luminous and expressive. People at the time thought he might be insane because his pictures were so different from what other artists were doing. He is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting and is commonly known as 'the painter of light'. His work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism.