'Five Studies of a Man Digging and a Kneeling Woman', Joseph Mallord William Turner | Tate

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Five Studies of a Man Digging and a Kneeling Woman

From Literary and Other Subjects and Copies

Date 1792

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 123 x 79 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D00194

Turner Bequest XVII S

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Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Five Studies of a Man Digging and a Kneeling Woman 1792

D00194
Turner Bequest XVII S

Pencil on white laid card, 123 x 79 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘XVII S’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XVII S’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

As the quotation on the verso from Robert Blair’s The Grave on the verso (D40232) makes clear, Turner had in mind an illustration of that poem, rather as his wash composition of Don Quixote illustrated Cervantes’ novel, in the spirit of Loutherbourg’s illustrative drawings; see Tate D00189 (Turner Bequest XVII N).

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.

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literature and fiction (2,343)

literature (not Shakespeare) (1,839)

Blair, Robert, 'The Grave' (2)

people (21,185)

actions: postures and motions (6,763)

kneeling (438)

adults (19,626)

man (8,608)

woman (7,621)

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family (565)

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grave digger (7)

Context

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Tate Collection

Gifts and bequests

Turner Bequest