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

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner executed this cursory study of a row of moored boats on the banks of a river or lake, with one sailing in the middle distance. The artist’s precise geographical location remains unclear, although he was presumably near the River Ticino or River Po, travelling westwards from Milan to Turin. This view likely relates to similar studies of moored boats on folio 2 recto opposite and folios 3 recto and verso (D21666, D21668–D21669).