A new BBC documentary investigates whether the celebrated English painter JMW Turner may have been neurodivergent, using his vast collection of sketches, drawings, and watercolours to build an unprecedented psychological portrait. The programme, titled Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks, examines the artist's 37,000 works to explore how childhood trauma and potential neurodivergence may have shaped his singular vision.
Contributors include actor Timothy Spall, who portrayed Turner in Mike Leigh's film Mr Turner, artists Tracey Emin and John Akomfrah, Rolling Stones musician Ronnie Wood, psychotherapist Orna Guralnik, and naturalist Chris Packham. Packham, an ambassador for the National Autistic Society, noted Turner's exceptional attention to detail and hyperfocus, traits commonly associated with conditions such as ADHD and autism. 'If Turner did have significant neurodiverse traits, I imagine they would have had quite a profound impact on his art and thinking,' he said.
Turner was born in Georgian London and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Arts at age 14, exhibiting his first work a year later. However, his childhood was difficult: his sister died when he was eight, and his mother Mary, believed to have had a psychiatric disorder, was eventually admitted to Bethlem mental hospital, where she died in 1804. Psychotherapist Orna Guralnik interpreted Turner's paintings as expressions of a 'tumultuous, turbulent inner world', suggesting his innate talents combined with his childhood experiences 'into this incredible force'.
Dr Amy Concannon, senior curator at Tate Britain, noted that the roughly 300 sketchbooks in the Turner bequest offer a unique window into his life. 'They tell us where he went and when and get us closer to his mind than anything else,' she said. The documentary also posits that Turner may have been the first artist to document climate change, reflecting the rapid technological shift from sail to steam in his works such as The Fighting Temeraire.
