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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth 1844 > Studies Relating to the Arrival of Louis ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the 'Gomer', in Portsmouth Harbour 1844

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the 'Gomer', in Portsmouth Harbour’ 1844
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the ‘Gomer’, in Portsmouth Harbour 1844
D35957
Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 114
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 235 x 309 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Going out to the Ship – scull [?Rowg R]’ towards bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram below right of centre
Inscribed in red ink ‘114’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXIV – 114’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Like the other works grouped here, this relates to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to this subsection and the overall section.1
The loosely washed-in background appears to combine the skyline of Portsmouth with vertical strokes for masts. In the foreground, below pencil lines indicating ‘choppy waters’,2 are the dark forms of at least two rowing boats and their crews. Turner’s inscription below has been read as ‘Going out to the Ship – sculls Rough’,3 sculls being oars. The last word is uncertain, but may rather be ‘Rowing R’ or a close variation, perhaps to note a red element in the crews’ clothing; ‘the ship’ is presumably the Gomer, the King’s large and distinctive hybrid sail-steamship, of which there is no obvious sign. Robert Upstone has suggested that this study shows in particular the Prince Consort and the Duke of Wellington approaching the ship’s moorings at Gosport.4 Compare Tate D35981 (Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 138), where it is surrounded by small boats.
1
See also Upstone 1993, p.52, Warrell 2013, p.9, and Smiles 2014, p.168.
2
Brown 1987, p.20.
3
See ibid., p.24, and Warrell 2015, p.202.
4
Upstone 1993, p.53.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘ccclxiv’ bottom right; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram over ‘CCCLXIV – 114’ bottom right.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe: Boats Going Out to his Ship, the ‘Gomer’, in Portsmouth Harbour 1844 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-arrival-of-louis-philippe-boats-going-out-to-his-ship-r1185700, accessed 23 November 2024.