Turner, Ross Sterling

Ross Sterling Turner (1847-1915) was a Salem artist. Born in Westport, N.Y., he was recognized as a superior watercolorists and painter, particularly in the areas of landscape and figure painting. He studied painting in Italy and Germany.

A devotee of American painter Frank Duveneck, he developed a thick, painterly, realist style.

Turner returned to Boston in 1882, and joined Celia Thaxter's art colony on Appledore Island. He and others painted out of doors, studying the effects of light and color.

In 1885, Turner married Louise Blaney, and the couple settled in Salem. Turner frequently commuted to Boston, where he maintained a studio and also taught both at M.I.T. and Massachusetts Normal Art School. He also had a studio in Wilton, N.H. and spent his summers there.

Turner was a member of the Boston Art Club, the Boston Watercolor Club, the American Watercolor Society and the Copley Society, among others. He exhibited at the Boston Art Club in 1884 and 1885, the Peabody Museum in Salem, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Turner was the author of several art books. He died in 1915 in the Bahamas.

See Also

• Vertical File in Salem Collection - Turner, Ross

• Info from the "snag file" in the Ref. Room

• Salem artist was also teacher and politician Jim McAllister Essex County Chronicles

• "A garden unearthed: 1888 watercolor a window into past beauty of Collins Cove" Salem Evening News, Jan. 11, 2002, p. A1