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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth 1844 > Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Boats in Portsmouth Harbour 1844

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Boats in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Verso:
?Boats in Portsmouth Harbour 1844
D35690
Turner Bequest CCCLXII 3a
Pencil on white wove paper, 74 x 116 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Like the other rapid sketches in this book, this relates to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to the sketchbook and the overall section.
The very slight, disjointed forms here suggest Turner’s fleeting impressions of shipping underway. The clearest form at the right appears to be a boat which is level with one or two similar forms immediately opposite on folio 4 recto (D35691), where the towers on the skyline suggest that the two pages from a panoramic view of Portsmouth eastwards from the harbour.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?Boats in Portsmouth Harbour 1844 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-boats-in-portsmouth-harbour-r1185639, accessed 22 November 2024.