'Park Place, Henley, with Marsh Mill to the Right', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Park Place, Henley, with Marsh Mill to the Right

From Thames, from Reading to Walton Sketchbook

Turner Bequest XCV

Date 1805

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 260 x 366 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D05930

Turner Bequest XCV 26

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Park Place, Henley, with Marsh Mill to the Right 1805

D05930
Turner Bequest XCV 26

Pencil on white wove paper, 260 x 366 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘26’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XCV 26’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

This was a right-hand page from the sketchbook. Finberg’s suggestion of Cliveden did not take account of the fact that the mansion was then in ruins, as can be seen in the drawing of the house that Turner did make in this sketchbook (Tate D05936; Turner Bequest XCV 32). The subject is correctly identified by Hill. For Henley subjects from this sketchbook see Tate D05911; Turner Bequest XCV 7. This view is taken from about a mile up the River Thames from the town itself, looking over Marsh Lock and Mill towards Park Place set on elevated ground on the opposite bank. The grounds had been famously beautified with artificial ruins, temples and other features, often built from the remnants of other buildings like Reading Abbey, by their owner General Conway and his architect James ‘Athenian’ Stuart. However, Turner seems only to have sketched this distant view from the river.

Verso:

Blank. Laid down.

David Blayney Brown
February 2009

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.