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 Men and Women ?on a Beach c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Men and Women ?on a Beach’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Men and Women ?on a Beach c.1826–40
D24631
Turner Bequest CCLIX 66
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 141 x 190 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘66’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 66’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketchy group of men and women may show them waiting on a beach to embark on a sea voyage. For other examples see the introduction.

As discussed in the Introduction, 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 in pencil ‘54–68’ top left; inscribed in pencil ‘D24631’ bottom centre.
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, ‘Men and Women ?on a Beach 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-men-and-women-on-a-beach-r1182573, accessed 16 April 2024.