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 Trees beside a River c.1825

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Trees beside a River’ c.1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 34 Recto:
Trees beside a River c.1825
D18638
Turner Bequest CCXII 34
Watercolour on white wove paper, 114 x 188 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘34’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXII – 34’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This contemplative wooded scene is the last of a sequence of twenty-five recto pages of watercolour landscape, sea and sky compositions beginning on folio 9 recto (D18609), many of which evoke Thames Valley scenes with water in the foreground; for a checklist and general comments, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.
Technical notes:
The bright green of the tree towards the left has been lifted out or manipulated with the artist’s fingers, leaving a prominent pattern of prints, perhaps with the intention of suggesting light through the foliage.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Trees beside a River 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-trees-beside-a-river-r1172756, accessed 26 April 2024.