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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > European River and Lowland Scenes > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner River Scene, with High Banks c.1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘River Scene, with High Banks’ c.1839
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
River Scene, with High Banks c.1839
D29013
Turner Bequest CCXCII 62
Gouache, pencil and watercolour on buff paper, 139 x 188 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXCII 62’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The lower half of the image depicts the wide expanse of a river leading towards a range of hills in the distance. A white dot, left of centre, indicates the sun, hanging low and casting long reflections on the surface of the water; the forms and colours of the high bank to the left reach across the river, while to the right a darker patch of blue marks where the land meets the water.
For the grouping and dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Inscribed in pencil ‘CCXCII 62’ towards bottom right. Inscribed in ink ‘34 | O’ bottom right.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘River Scene, with High Banks c.1839 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-river-scene-with-high-banks-r1202190, accessed 09 May 2024.