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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Work for Earls Egremont and Lonsdale ... > Petworth Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Petworth House from Lawn Hill, with Deer 1809

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Petworth House from Lawn Hill, with Deer’ 1809
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Petworth House from Lawn Hill, with Deer 1809
D07516
Turner Bequest CIX 5
Pencil on white wove paper, 228 x 375 mm
Stamped in black ‘CIX 5’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This drawing is often described as a study for Petworth, Sussex, the Seat of the Earl of Egremont: Dewy Morning painted for the Earl of Egremont in 1810 and exhibited at the Royal Academy that year (Tate T03880; displayed at Petworth House).1 However, it is a different composition and must have been made as an alternative to show to the Earl along with the drawing from the same sketchbook, representing the view of the house from the lake (D07515; Turner Bequest CIX 4), which was actually used for the picture. Here, the west front is seen at an angle from elevated ground in the park known as Lawn Hill, and instead of the lake, Petworth’s herd of fallow deer occupies the foreground. The busier design, with over-arching trees, represents an obviously intentional contrast to the open composition chosen for the picture.
1
Butlin and Joll 1984, pp.79–80 no.113 (pl.120).
Verso:
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin ink red ink ‘85’ bottom left corner, by an unknown hand in pencil ‘Petworth’ left of centre and ?by A. J. Finberg ‘5. | CIX. Probably p4 (crossed out) | AJF’ lower left of centre

David Blayney Brown
June 2009

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Petworth House from Lawn Hill, with Deer 1809 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-petworth-house-from-lawn-hill-with-deer-r1135631, accessed 22 November 2024.