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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Thames sketchbooks c.1804-14 > Composition Studies Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Buildings near Isleworth, through Trees by the River Thames c.1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Buildings near Isleworth, through Trees by the River Thames’ c.1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Recto:
Buildings near Isleworth, through Trees by the River Thames c.1805
D03804
Turner Bequest LXV 3
Ink on cream laid writing paper, 118 x 184 mm
Part watermark ‘J Lar’
Inscribed by Turner in ink ‘B’ top left, 5’ and ‘2’ towards top left, ‘4’ towards top centre, and ‘3’ and ‘6’ towards top right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘3’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘LXV – 3’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With buildings through gaps in the trees towards the left and right, this view is characteristic of the wooded parkland of Syon House and Kew along the banks of the River Thames, frequently depicted around 1805 when Turner was based at Syon Ferry House, Isleworth (see the overall Introduction to this section).
There may be a rudimentary rendering of Syon House itself or nearby buildings on the left (see folios 1 and 2 recto; D03802, D03803) with Kew Palace on the opposite bank in the distance, looking downstream to the north-east; compare for example the watercolour study in the Hesperides (1) sketchbook (Tate D05833; Turner Bequest XCIII 38a).
For Turner’s use of numbers within the drawings in this book, see the Introduction.
Verso:
Blank. There is slight offsetting from the ink drawing on folio 4 recto opposite (D03805).

Matthew Imms
April 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Buildings near Isleworth, through Trees by the River Thames c.1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-buildings-near-isleworth-through-trees-by-the-river-thames-r1183641, accessed 17 July 2024.