J. M. W. Turner
There is a film out, Mr. Turner. It depicts the 19th century British painter in the last two decades of his life. I have not seen it yet, the DVD awaits in our que.
Joseph Mallord William Turner was a master landscape painter that is know for his more spectacular works like The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834.
Turner viewed the event from the bank of the river Thames. Later he painted the vivid scene from memory. At the British Institute in 1835, he finished the painting in front of an audience as quite the spectacle. As custom, the artist were to just put finishing touches on their paintings. Instead he made quite the scene with his usual flamboyance by taking the day in painting the whole of it to completion.
JMW Turner