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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Figures at Turin 1820

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Recto:
Studies of Figures at Turin 1820
D16669
Turner Bequest CXCII 15
Pencil on white wove paper, 98 x 128 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Turin’ top left, ‘R’, ‘B’ and ‘P’ within figure top left, ‘Green | Glovs’ centre, ‘Striped Gaiters’ centre right-hand edge, and ‘Brown [?shawls] | [?Cocked] Hats Red caps white caps’ bottom centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘15’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CXCII 15’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner has used this page for several swift thumbnail figures sketches including a woman wearing a headdress (top left) and another wearing a checked skirt (top right). The sheet is variously annotated with remarks concerning the colours and details of the various types of dress while an inscription in the top left-hand corner indicates that the artist observed these features at ‘Turin’. There are a number of similar groups of sketches within this sketchbook, see for example folio 13 (D16665).

Nicola Moorby
April 2013

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Studies of Figures 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-at-turin-r1142568, accessed 18 May 2024.