J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Return from Italy Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Figures and Carts at Turin 1820

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Figures and Carts at Turin’ 1820
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 13 Recto:
Studies of Figures and Carts at Turin 1820
D16665
Turner Bequest CXCII 13
Pencil on white wove paper, 128 x 98 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Striped’ and ‘Re’ top left, ‘Turin’ centre right-hand edge, and ‘Some Red Striped | Caps Small’ bottom centre left-hand edge
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘13’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXCII 13’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner has used this page for swift thumbnail sketches of figures and other details of contemporary everyday life. The sheet includes studies of men and women in varying types of costume, while at the bottom are several drawings of carts or wagons and people carrying large baskets on their backs. An inscription near the upper right-hand corner indicates that the artist observed these features at ‘Turin’ and the page is further annotated with notes concerning the colour and appearance of local dress. There are a number of similar groups of sketches within this sketchbook, see for example folios 13 verso–14 (D16666–D16667).

Nicola Moorby
April 2013

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Studies of Figures and Carts at Turin 1820 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-of-figures-and-carts-at-turin-r1142564, accessed 18 May 2024.