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

Ian Warrell has identified this work as one of several coastal views of Brighton; it therefore has no relation to Turner’s 1828–9 tour of France and Italy.1 See folios 3 verso–5 verso and 61 recto–62 recto (D21857–D21860, D21961–D21963) for views in this sketchbook identified as Brighton.

Three loosely defined studies appear on this page, the lower of which possibly features a pier in the background, with figures and moored boats in the foreground. Across the top of the page and above left are two further outlines of figures attending to boats. The faint markings in the top-right corner, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, extend from a harbour scene on folio 4 recto opposite (D21858). Precisely when Turner visited Brighton before embarking on his Italian tour remains unclear.