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 Man on a Beach with Breaking Waves c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Man on a Beach with Breaking Waves’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Man on a Beach with Breaking Waves c.1826–40
D24942
Turner Bequest CCLX 106
Black and white chalks on blue wove paper, 139 x 187 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘106’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLX 106’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The silhouetted man at the centre (a sort of surrogate for the artist himself) stands on a beach and confronts rolling waves. There is perhaps a pier or breakwater on the left, and the marks towards the right may indicate a small boat or boats and figures in the surf. See the Introduction for other examples of such scenes.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘52 | O’ bottom right (partly obscured); inscribed in pencil ‘D.24942’ bottom left. There is a border of white paper or tape, with more paper adhering, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Man on a Beach with Breaking Waves 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-man-on-a-beach-with-breaking-waves-r1182593, accessed 24 April 2024.