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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Coastal Scenes and Shipping c.1820-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures and ?Coastal Terrain c.1841-5

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures and ?Coastal Terrain’ c.1841-5
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Figures and ?Coastal Terrain c.1841–5
D27600
Turner Bequest CCLXXX 83
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 185 x 230 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘(83’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXX – 83’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a large number of sketches on loose sheets of paper depicting coastal terrain and seagoing vessels in various combinations. The fiery quality of the light in this particular sketch led art historian John Gage to connect it to Turner’s depictions of the burning of the Houses of Parliament in 1834.1 For the grouping and dating of these works to the middle and later periods of Turner’s career, see the section introduction.
1
John Gage, Colour in Turner: Poetry and Truth, London 1969, p.35.
Technical notes:
The sheet was not available for inspection at the time of cataloguing.

John Chu
June 2015

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Figures and ?Coastal Terrain c.1841–5 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-figures-and-coastal-terrain-r1182821, accessed 21 November 2024.