The Briton Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 - 1851) is one of the most productive painters in art history: he created around 32,000 works, mostly landscape paintings. At the age of 14, the Royal Academy in London accepted him as a scholarship holder, and he later became a member there and taught at it. The “master of light”, as Turner was called early on, is considered the most famous forerunner of impressionism. Alain Jaubert's film presents the themes and experiences that determined Turner's work and life: natural spectacles, ships and extensive study trips to France, Italy and the Alps.