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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Architectural and Other Subjects c.1797 ... > Academical Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ships on a River, with Distant Hills c.1798-9

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ships on a River, with Distant Hills’ c.1798-9
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 46 Verso:
Ships on a River, with Distant Hills c.1798–9
D01868
Turner Bequest XLIII 45a
Blue and brown watercolour with white chalk on blue laid paper prepared with a red-brown ground, 140 x 216 mm
Stamped in black ‘XLIII – 45a’ bottom right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page turned horizontally, this may be a study in the series of composition designs for a view of Caernarvon Castle; see under folio 40 verso (D01856; Turner Bequest XLIII 39a). If so, the castle itself is conspicuously absent. Alternatively, it may be associated with the broad landscape on folio 41 verso (D01858; Turner Bequest XLIII 40a) and perhaps with that on folio 47 verso (D01870; Turner Bequest XLIII 46a), where a scene of boat-building in ancient times may be shown.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Ships on a River, with Distant Hills c.1798–9 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, 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-ships-on-a-river-with-distant-hills-r1174068, accessed 27 April 2024.