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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Figures on a Beach c.1826-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures on a Beach, with ?Sailing Boats c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures on a Beach, with ?Sailing Boats’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Figures on a Beach, with ?Sailing Boats c.1826–40
D24591
Turner Bequest CCLIX 26
Chalk, gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 139 x 191 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 26’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This seems to be a scene of recreational visitors to a beach (see the Introduction for other examples), with figures standing, sitting and reclining, and looking out to the blue horizon. The white shapes to the right are presumably the sails of one or more boats.
As discussed in the Introduction, this is one of the subjects of figures by the sea which Ian Warrell tentatively suggested as linked to Brighton around 1827, while noting that they could equally well show scenes in England or France on other occasions.1
1
See Warrell 1989, pp.120, 123 note 114.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘26 – 498’ top left, ‘D.24591’ bottom left, and with another pencil number, obscured towards the bottom right. There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Figures on a Beach, with ?Sailing Boats c.1826–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-figures-on-a-beach-with-sailing-boats-r1182559, accessed 08 May 2024.