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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Monro School c.1794-8 > Collaborations with Thomas Girtin for Dr ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin On the River Acquacetosa c.1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin, ‘On the River Acquacetosa’ c.1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Thomas Girtin 1775–1802
On the River Acquacetosa c.1798
D36547
Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 26
Pencil and grey and blue-grey wash on white wove paper, 319 x 503 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXXV – 26’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Provenance:
Probably commissioned by Dr Thomas Monro
Monro’s posthumous sale, Christie’s, London, 26–28 June and 1–2 July 1833 (day and lot number not known)
Bought by or on behalf of Turner
This was probably copied from a sketch or watercolour by John Robert Cozens (1752–1797). The pencil underdrawing seems to be by Turner. Another view on this river is in the first Monro album (Tate D36465; Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII 52).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed, possibly by Thomas Girtin, in pencil ‘Aqua acetosa’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram; some paint smudges, perhaps a result of the 1928 Tate flood.
As in the case of Tate D36532 (Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 11), the attribution of the inscription to Girtin is at odds with an ascription of the pencil work in this sheet to Turner alone.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘On the River Acquacetosa c.1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-thomas-girtin-on-the-river-acquacetosa-r1141288, accessed 19 April 2024.