William Ralph Turner FRSA, R. Cam. A. (1920-2013) William Ralph Turner was a leading figure among the Northern Industrial painters, part of a vibrant artistic community that included L.S. Lowry, Alan Lowndes, Kenneth Gribble, Theodore Major, and Harold Riley. During the 1950s and 60s, he frequented the Crane Kalman Gallery in Manchester, where he studied the works of German Expressionists and French Fauves—artists like Beckmann, Vlaminck, Soutine, Chagall, Rouault, and Segonzac. He absorbed their innovative use of colour and technique, translating these influences into a uniquely personal vision of NorthWest England's industrial landscapes. For over fifty years, Turner painted the industrial heart of the region: towering cotton mills, pre-Clean Air Act skies heavy with pollution, smoking chimneys, and the resilient working-class population. Within the often-grim reality of these industrial valleys, Turner’s individual qualities was to paint Manchester’s most drab industrial areas with a palette and handling of pigment associated with the Parisian paintings of Vlamink whilst never betraying the atmosphere, light and visual incidents of the Northern industrial scene—a powerful visual counterpoint to the scene before him. Turner's talent was first recognised by Peter Burdett in the 1970s, leading to a commission to paint Lyon, France, and subsequent successful exhibitions in Windsor and Eton in the 1980s. Turner’s work is highly collectable and sits in many distinguished collections. Parkinson's Disease eventually brought Turner's artistic career to a close. He passed away in 2013, having, as some critics noted, finally emerged from Lowry's shadow to achieve widespread acclaim.