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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Erotica and Improvisations c.1834-6 > Fishing at the Weir Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Tonal Preparation for a Composition c.1834-6

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Tonal Preparation for a Composition’ c.1834-6
Folio 7 Recto:
Tonal Preparation for a Composition c.1834–6
D27736
Turner Bequest CCLXXXI 7
Watercolour on white wove paper, 79 x 101 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXXI – 7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As set out in the Introduction, numerous pages in the first third of this sketchbook have had rough watercolour washes applied, which have then been worked into compositions to varying degrees. Here there is too little development to be certain of a subject, although there may be a hint of the dark space within a curtained bed or interior towards the left, as seen on other pages.

Matthew Imms
April 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Tonal Preparation for a Composition c.1834–6’, catalogue entry, April 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/tonal-preparation-for-a-composition-r1149100, accessed 22 November 2024.