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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Trees in the Avenue at Farnley ?1814

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 78 Recto:
Trees in the Avenue at Farnley ?1814
D09777
Turner Bequest CXXXIII 78
Pencil on white wove paper, 110 x 178 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘78’ top left, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXXXIII 78’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As has been recognised,1 this sketch relates to the watercolour The Avenue, Farnley (Bolton Museums),2 which has been variously dated to about 18153 or 1818.4 It is a rougher version of the trees in the drawing on folio 77 verso opposite (D09776), where Farnley Hall is included in the distance. The diagonal, arching branch at the top right of the watercolour seems to derive from the present drawing rather than the more detailed sketch opposite. See under D09776 for further discussion.
The top right corner of the leaf has been lost and made good. Ruskin’s customary ‘294’ in blue ink, as seen on other pages in this sketchbook, is therefore not in evidence here.

Matthew Imms
July 2014

1
See Wilton 1979, p.369, and Hill, Warburton, Tussey and others 1980, p.42.
2
Wilton 1979, p.369 no.600, pl.129.
3
Hill and others 1980, p.42, as ‘c.1815?’.
4
Wilton 1979, p.369.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Trees in the Avenue at Farnley ?1814 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-trees-in-the-avenue-at-farnley-r1147328, accessed 29 March 2024.