Joseph Mallord William Turner The Thames from Richmond Hill c.1825-36
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
The Thames from Richmond Hill c.1825–36
D25509
Turner Bequest CCLXIII 385
Turner Bequest CCLXIII 385
Watercolour on white wove paper, 372 x 584 mm
Watermark ‘J Whatman | Turkey Mill | 1824’
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIII – 385’ bottom right
Watermark ‘J Whatman | Turkey Mill | 1824’
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIII – 385’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1974
Turner 1775–1851, Royal Academy, London, November 1974–March 1975 (256, as ‘View from Richmond Terrace’, ?c.1825).
1983
J.M.W. Turner, à l’occasion du cinquantième anniversaire du British Council, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, October 1983–January 1984 (201, reproduced, as ‘Étude pour «Richmond Hill», c.1825).
2007
Colour and Line: Turner’s Experiments, Tate Britain, London, April–November 2007 (no catalogue, as ‘Study for Drawing of Richmond Terrace’).
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.844, CCLXIII 385, as ‘Study for drawing of Richmond Terrace’. c.1820–30.
1974
Martin Butlin, Andrew Wilton and John Gage, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London 1974, p.96 no.256, as ‘View from Richmond Terrace’. ?c.1825.
1979
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.359 under no.518.
1983
Andrew Wilton in John Gage, Jerrold Ziff, Nicholas Alfrey and others, J.M.W. Turner, à l’occasion du cinquantième anniversaire du British Council, exhibition catalogue, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris 1983, pp.259–60 no.201, reproduced, as ‘Étude pour «Richmond Hill». c.1825).
1997
Eric Shanes, Turner’s Watercolour Explorations 1810–1842, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1997, pp.96, 107 (p.96 Appendix I under ‘England and Wales Series’, as ‘Study for Richmond Terrace, Surrey’. c.1836, p.107 Appendix II, as ‘Study: Richmond Terrace, Surrey’).
Turner had a long association with the Richmond upon Thames area,1 and his most ambitious version of the view west up the river from Richmond Hill was the large painting England: Richmond Hill, on the Prince Regent’s Birthday, exhibited in 1819 (Tate N00502).2 He subsequently produced two watercolours of the view: Richmond Hill of about 1825 or possibly a little earlier (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight),3 engraved in 1826 for the Literary Souvenir (Tate impression: T06132); and Richmond Terrace, Surrey of about 1836 (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool),4 engraved in 1838 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Tate impressions: T04611, T06128).
The present study has been linked variously to both watercolours in general,5 to the Literary Souvenir,6 or to the later England and Wales version.7 The wall indicated at the far left and the possible hint of a tree trunk towards the right, only seen in the finished England and Wales composition, suggest this may be a study for that version, although the tentative nature of these features and the 1824 watermark do not preclude the present work’s being related to the Literary Souvenir.
See also the introductions to the present subsection of identified subjects and the overall England and Wales ‘colour beginnings’ grouping to which this work has been assigned.
Technical notes:
The top edge has been trimmed irregularly. There is a discrete band of colour along that edge, including browns towards the right, suggesting that Turner worked on another landscape composition ‘above’ this one before dividing the sheet.
The top edge has been trimmed irregularly. There is a discrete band of colour along that edge, including browns towards the right, suggesting that Turner worked on another landscape composition ‘above’ this one before dividing the sheet.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘385’ top left, descending vertically. There is a splash or offset of blue colour at the centre left.
Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘385’ top left, descending vertically. There is a splash or offset of blue colour at the centre left.
Matthew Imms
March 2013
How to cite
Matthew Imms, ‘The Thames from Richmond Hill c.1825–36 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2013, https://www