author
W. G. (William George) Rawlinson
1840–1928
Best known as a devoted scholar of J. M. W. Turner, this English writer combined a career in the silk trade with a deep commitment to art collecting and research. His books on Turner's engravings and the Liber Studiorum helped preserve and organize knowledge of the artist's work for later generations.
1 Audiobook
The Water-Colours of J. M. W. Turner
by J. M. W. (Joseph Mallord William) Turner, A. J. (Alexander Joseph) Finberg, W. G. (William George) Rawlinson
About the author
Born in Taunton, Somerset, in 1840, William George Rawlinson came from a family connected with the silk trade and later worked as a silk merchant himself. Sources also describe him as an art collector and writer, especially noted for his lifelong interest in the work of J. M. W. Turner.
Rawlinson is remembered above all as a Turner scholar. He wrote Turner's Liber Studiorum, a Description and a Catalogue and the multi-volume The Engraved Work of J. M. W. Turner, R.A., books that became important references for collectors and students of British art. His name also appears in records connected with the art world of late Victorian London, including correspondence relating to James McNeill Whistler.
He died in 1928. Although not a household name today, Rawlinson played a valuable part in documenting and interpreting Turner's legacy, and his writings remain of interest to readers drawn to art history, printmaking, and the world of nineteenth-century collecting.