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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Figures on a Beach c.1826-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Woman Leaning on the Hull of a Beached Boat, with Other Figures c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Woman Leaning on the Hull of a Beached Boat, with Other Figures’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Woman Leaning on the Hull of a Beached Boat, with Other Figures c.1826–40
D24620
Turner Bequest CCLIX 55
Chalk, gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 140 x 192 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘55’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘55’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
A woman in a pink dress and white bonnet and perhaps two male companions are apparently leaning against a beached boat while conversing, with the proprietorial air of locals rather than visitors. See the Introduction for examples of scenes with fishermen and women.
As discussed there, this is one of the subjects of figures by the sea which Ian Warrell tentatively suggested as linked to Brighton around 1827, while noting that they could equally well show scenes in England or France on other occasions.1
1
See Warrell 1989, pp.120, 123 note 114.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘311 | O’ bottom right; inscribed in pencil ‘54–68’ top right; inscribed in pencil ‘D24620’ top centre, upside down. There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Woman Leaning on the Hull of a Beached Boat, with Other Figures c.1826–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-woman-leaning-on-the-hull-of-a-beached-boat-with-other-r1182562, accessed 25 April 2024.