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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Thames Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Boats and Figures, by a Quay or on the River Thames; a Wooded River Scene with a Bridge c.1825

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Boats and Figures, by a Quay or on the River Thames; a Wooded River Scene with a Bridge’ c.1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Verso:
Boats and Figures, by a Quay or on the River Thames; a Wooded River Scene with a Bridge c.1825
D18599
Turner Bequest CCXII 3a
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 188 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The setting of the main drawing, with boats full of passengers passing or approaching what may be a quay on the left, could be the River Thames or a harbour. In August 1825 Turner was abroad in the Low Countries, and it is possible that the scene was observed there, although drawings on nearby pages show the familiar scene from the top of Richmond Hill (see the Introduction). The smaller scene separated by pencil lines at the top right shows trees by a bridge, with boats and figures in the foreground. On folio 4 recto opposite (D18600), there is a study of what is likely to be one of the London livery company barges used in pageants on the Thames, which might be connected with the main subject here.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Boats and Figures, by a Quay or on the River Thames; a Wooded River Scene with a Bridge c.1825 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-boats-and-figures-by-a-quay-or-on-the-river-thames-a-wooded-r1172716, accessed 24 April 2024.