JOSEPH MALLOR WILLIAM TURNER: “Rain, steam and speed” 1844, - oil on canvas, 91- 112 cm. - London, National Gallery

Probably the best landscape painter of all time, Turner paints his masterwork in which constitutes an almost impressionist work. The picture is a sensational conclusion to the Turner's investigations about light and atmosphere, developed during his time as professor in the Royal Academy. During this time, Turner learned the Newton and Goethe's theories about light and colour. In this painting, the authentic protagonist, even ahead of the dynamical locomotive, is the changing English atmosphere, an effect increased by the steam caused by the powerful machinery. The critics -and later the impressionist painters- felt a deep fascination for this quick locomotive. A critic wrote, during its exhibition in 1844: “a train advances towards you, a train that really advances at 50 miles per hour, and that the reader would do well to see before it leaves the picture”