'A Country Blacksmith Disputing upon the Price of Iron, and the Price Charged to the Butcher for Shoeing his Poney', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

A Country Blacksmith Disputing upon the Price of Iron, and the Price Charged to the Butcher for Shoeing his Poney

Date exhibited 1807

MediumOil paint on mahogany

Dimensionssupport: 549 x 778 mm frame: 930 x 1148 x 150 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

N00478

Not on display

Display caption

Turner was always ambitious to compete with fellow artists in all areas of art. The ecstatic reception given to the first painting David Wilkie showed at the Royal Academy, in 1806, encouraged Turner to show his skill at painting scenes of everyday life. He exhibited this picture at the Academy in the following year, where it hung next to Wilkie’s The Blind Fiddler, shown to the left.

Opinion was divided about who came off better in this competition. One observer said that Wilkie’s painting was ‘flung into eclipse’ by the brighter colouring of Turner’s work.

September 2004