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

This loose watercolour study may have been inspired by a sketch of pine trees that Turner made in his Albano, Nemi, Rome sketchbook of 1819 (see Tate D15327; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 18). A number of broadly drawn pine trees occupy the centre of the subject, while horizontal areas of pale blue paint suggest water in the foreground and mountains in the distance. Although the exact subject and intended purpose remain unknown the work is generally associated with Turner’s vignette projects. Owing to the Italianate theme, Jan Piggott has previously linked it to Turner’s series of illustrations for Rogers’s Italy (1830).1 However, the style, support and colouring suggest a later date, in line with a number of other watercolours of Continental landscapes (see Tate D27540; Turner Bequest CCLXXX 23).

Technical notes:
The watercolour was exhibited as part of the second loan collection, selected by Ralph Nicholson Wornum and exhibited in various venues outside of London at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.1 Unfortunately, like many of works in the loan collection tours, the watercolour has suffered from overexposure and is now badly faded.

Verso:

?Blank. Pasted to support.