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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Liber Studiorum notes c.1807-19 > Aesacus and Hesperie Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Skylines, Possibly in the Thames Valley c.1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Skylines, Possibly in the Thames Valley’ c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Verso:
Two Skylines, Possibly in the Thames Valley c.1819
D13776
Turner Bequest CLXIX 16a
Pencil on white wove paper, 87 x 119 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?1]’, ‘2’, ‘3’ and ‘5’ on features towards centre left and ‘[?2]’ on feature at centre right of upper drawing
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two sketches, above and below, both continuing to the right on folio 17 recto opposite (D13777). Each shows a shallow skyline of low hills, which Finberg identified as coastal. However, they appear related to the next two double-page sketches, on folios 17 verso–18 recto (D13778, D13779) and 18 verso–19 recto (D13780, D13781). The first of these may show the view west from Richmond Hill, suggesting that the present drawing may show another Thames Valley location. There is what appears to be a place name inscribed on the other half, though it is illegible.

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Two Skylines, Possibly in the Thames Valley c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, 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/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-skylines-possibly-in-the-thames-valley-r1147499, accessed 21 November 2024.