J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851 was perhaps the most prolific and innovative of all British artists. His outstanding watercolours in the National Gallery of Scotland are one of the most popular features of its collection. Bequeathed to the Gallery in 1899 by the distinguished collector Henry Vaughan, they have been exhibited, as he requested, every January for over 100 years. Renowned for their excellent state of preservation, they provide a remarkable overview of many of the most important aspects of Turner's career.

Christopher Baker is Director, European and Scottish Art and Portraiture. He formerly curated the Christ Church collections in Oxford and was a researcher at the National Gallery, London. He has published extensively, notably on aspects of the history of collecting, and is currently writing the catalog of the English drawings in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery.