When I was a teenager, J.M.W. Turner was one of my favorite painters and I squeaked with glee when I discovered that the London museum had an entire WING of his paintings. I think I spent a couple of days there. I liked blurry paintings then — they seemed more artistic than photographic paintings.

Now that everything looks blurry, I prefer paintings with sharp lines, but I didn’t want to miss this show. I enjoyed the movie with some of my art friends, but none of them could go to San Francisco when I could, so I went by myself. It was very crowded, even at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, so now I know to go as early as possible, and to leave by 1 p.m. to beat the traffic back. It only took about an hour, each way.

This show focuses on work Turner produced from age 60 to 75 and includes some of the scathing criticism by his contemporaries. My favorite is the image on the right, above, of a steamship in a snow storm. The apocryphal story is that Turner had himself lashed to a mast for two hours to experience the storm and watch the steamship founder. The art books at the museum question this story but the painting is very dramatic.

I was struck by Turner’s work ethic, and how much he traveled to find compelling subjects. The watercolors from his visit to Switzerland come with detailed descriptions of the techniques and materials he used. My watercolor friends will love the show!