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

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Its 1909 Inventory title (‘Shipping’)1 was amended by Ian Warrell to ‘Four Boats’ in 2003, in connection with his concurrent Turner and Venice exhibition at Tate Britain;2 he subsequently suggested that the two small boats on the left are likely of the topo class (or the yet smaller sanpierota), and those moored on the right of the larger two-masted trabaccolo type.3 For other studies in this sketchbook showing local shipping in isolation or particularly prominently in topographical views of the city, see under folio 2 verso (D31931);4 see also folio 14 recto opposite (D31952).

Though lacking topographical indications, the present sketch falls within what was perhaps a single waterborne excursion (folios 10 verso–24 recto; D31945–D31972) out towards the Giardini Pubblici at the eastern end of Venice and then westwards across the Lagoon along the southern shores of the islands of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Giudecca, before turning back for the Bacino at the heart of the city along the Canale della Giudecca. For this sketchbook’s somewhat convoluted general sequence, see its Introduction.