Revealed: Turner’s Secret Sketchbooks Link to Neurodivergence in New BBC Documentary

JMW Turner is celebrated as possibly the finest painter to hail from England, yet despite his prolific artistic contributions, certain aspects of his character have eluded understanding.

A new BBC documentary now explores Turner’s extensive collection of 37,000 sketches, drawings, and watercolors in an attempt to create a detailed psychological profile of the artist. The film suggests that Turner’s unique artistic perspective may have been influenced by his traumatic childhood experiences and potential neurodivergence.

In the documentary titled Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks, contributions come from various personalities, including actor Timothy Spall who played Turner in Mike Leigh’s film Mr. Turner, artists Tracey Emin and John Akomfrah, musician Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, psychotherapist Orna Guralnik, and naturalist Chris Packham.

Packham notes, “For those we suspect to have had neurodivergent characteristics, like Alan Turing or Isaac Newton, it’s not possible to make definitive retrospective diagnoses. We can only speculate. However, if Turner did exhibit significant neurodiverse traits, it’s likely they deeply influenced his artwork and thought processes.”

As an ambassador for the National Autistic Society, Packham highlights Turner’s “exceptional” attention to detail and “hyperfocus,” which is a deep, protracted concentration often seen in individuals with ADHD or autism.

Packham adds, “I find similarities in the way I think and approach tasks due to my own autism. Turner, it appears, had a focused interest—what I would even call an obsession. He continually revisited certain landscapes for various reasons, possibly never feeling satisfied with his earlier efforts.

“There’s also an echo of this in his attention to detail and his meticulous vision, especially evident in his younger years before his shift to a more impressionistic style. His ability to visually dissect and understand every element of a scene was remarkable.”

Turner rose to prominence in the art world as a young prodigy from the rough neighborhoods of Georgian London. He joined the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 14 and showcased his first painting there a year later.

However, Turner’s childhood was marked by hardship. He was eight when his five-year-old sister passed away. His mother, Mary, struggled with a psychiatric condition and was prone to violent outbursts (she was ultimately committed to Bethlem hospital, a mental asylum, where she died in 1804).

Guralnik interprets Turner’s artworks as manifestations of “a tumultuous, turbulent inner world that was quite hidden from his outward expression.” She believes that his innate abilities and childhood experiences “merged into this incredible force.”

“I’ve always been familiar with Turner’s work,” stated Guralnik, a psychologist based in New York. “This documentary offered a new perspective on him as a person and opened up a vast realm of understanding regarding what his paintings really represent. The inner turmoil reflected through the water, the clouds, the climate.”

For Guralnik, Turner’s early tendency to draw buildings also indicated his deep-seated need for stability.

Dr. Amy Concannon, the Manton senior curator of historic British art at Tate Britain, where the Turner & Constable exhibition is currently held, mentioned that the approximately 300 sketchbooks in the Turner bequest offer a unique glimpse into his life.

“These sketchbooks reveal his travels, his thoughts, and bring us closer to his mind than any other resource,” she explained. “Interpreting these works is challenging, yet they constantly reveal new insights, which is why cataloguing them has taken over 20 years.”

The BBC documentary also proposes that Turner might have been the first artist to document climate change.

“He lived through an era transitioning from sail to steam,” Packham observed. “This dramatic technological shift is vividly captured in his works. In The Fighting Temeraire, an old warship from the Battle of Trafalgar is depicted being towed by a modern steam tug. Similarly, in Rain, Steam and Speed, the steam train symbolizes the relentless advance of the Industrial Revolution.”

Concannon points to works like Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight, and Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, highlighting Turner’s interest in the changing industrial landscape, labor practices, and environmental pollution.

She added, “While Turner may not have consciously addressed climate change as we understand it today, he was deeply interested in meteorology and studied atmospheric effects intensively for his art. Some of his colorful sunsets may have been influenced by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora.”

That eruption, occurring in the Dutch East Indies at the time, “precipitated a rapid onset of climate change,” according to Packham. “Turner was awe-inspired by the overwhelming power of nature. It’s somewhat tragic that today, it’s not a volcano but human activity shaping our climate and causing widespread famine and disruption.”

• Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks airs on BBC Two on Wednesday 19 November.