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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Views of a Town on a Distant Ridge 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Two Views of a Town on a Distant Ridge 1798
D00715
Turner Bequest XXIX J
Pencil and watercolour on white card, 152 x 178 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards top right
Stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram and ‘XXIX J’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
These two studies evidently derive from the watercolour Tate D04174 (Turner Bequest LXX W). The fact that they present the same subject with alternative foregrounds, and that there are ‘specimens’ of foliage on the verso (D40246), suggests that this is a suggestion or model for a pupil; see the ‘Copy-Drawings 1794–8’ section of this catalogue). However, the card support is identical with those of the other drawings in the present grouping, which mostly appear to have been made on tour.
A green colour trial on the verso of a card of pencil studies made at Ludlow (Tate D01894; Turner Bequest XLIV R) may relate to the present work.

Andrew Wilton
March 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Two Views of a Town on a Distant Ridge 1798 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, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-views-of-a-town-on-a-distant-ridge-r1174985, accessed 21 November 2024.