JMW TURNER

It is sometimes difficult to imagine that Joseph Mallord William Turner’s career was once viewed as ground-breaking or controversial. Almost 170 years on from his death on 19 December 1851 at the ripe old age of 76, the regularity with which his work is exhibited has perhaps left us a little immune to their brilliance; his countless masterpieces seemingly comforting and familiar rather than questing and experimental.

Tate Britain’s new exhibition, Turner’s Modern World, aims to show how the artist’s lifelong fascination with developments in science, technology, society, culture and more helped to shape his art for the better.

So, while a £22 full-price ticket may be steep for a show including many masterpieces that are usually free to admire in the National Gallery or Tate’s own