Joseph Mallord William Turner

A Group of Figures in a Storm: Study for a Historical Composition

1799

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Dolbadarn Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 79 x 130 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D02120
Turner Bequest XLVI 83

Catalogue entry

Like other drawings in this book, this sketch, made with the page turned horizontally, no doubt relates to historical subjects Turner was mulling over at this time. The combination of figures with a violent storm suggests the Biblical subject of The Army of the Medes destroyed in the Desart by a Whirlwind1 which Turner exhibited in 1801; it is now lost, possibly painted over with another subject. Another possible subject is the destruction of Pharoah’s host in the Red Sea, which may be the subject of a separate sheet (Tate D08205; Turner Bequest CXIX R), although he is not known ever to have completed a picture on that theme.
1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, pp.13–15 no.15.
Verso:
Blank; washed with a very pale grey ground.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Left Right
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Historical Subject: Groups of Figures’ c.1800–7

Joseph Mallord William Turner Historical Subject: Groups of Figures

c.1800–7
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Historical Subject: Groups of Figures’ c.1800–7

Joseph Mallord William Turner Historical Subject: Groups of Figures

c.1800–7
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Historical Subject: Group of Figures’ c.1800–7

Joseph Mallord William Turner Historical Subject: Group of Figures

c.1800–7
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Composition Study: A Fierce Storm (or Battle) over a Wide Plain, Watched by Figures on a Slope in the Foreground’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Composition Study: A Fierce Storm (or Battle) over a Wide Plain, Watched by Figures on a Slope in the Foreground

1798
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Composition Study: Figures on a Shore with a Fierce Storm over a Plain Beyond’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Composition Study: Figures on a Shore with a Fierce Storm over a Plain Beyond

1798
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Composition Study: Figures on a Shore with a Fierce Storm over a Plain Beyond’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Composition Study: Figures on a Shore with a Fierce Storm over a Plain Beyond

1798
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Composition Study: A Fierce Storm (or Battle) over a Wide Plain, Watched by Figures on a Slope in the Foreground’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Composition Study: A Fierce Storm (or Battle) over a Wide Plain, Watched by Figures on a Slope in the Foreground

1798
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for a Historical Subject: A Town with Towers and a Bridge, in a Thunder Storm’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study for a Historical Subject: A Town with Towers and a Bridge, in a Thunder Storm

c.1799–1805
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures round a Seated Woman; ?a Landscape Composition or Figures’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Group of Figures round a Seated Woman; ?a Landscape Composition or Figures

c.1799–1805
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Soldiers in Historical Costume Resting’ 1796–7

Joseph Mallord William Turner Soldiers in Historical Costume Resting

1796–7
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition Study: A Bard in a Rocky Mountainous Landscape, with a Storm’ 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Composition Study: A Bard in a Rocky Mountainous Landscape, with a Storm

1799
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for a Historical Subject: A Town with Towers and a Bridge, in a Thunder Storm’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study for a Historical Subject: A Town with Towers and a Bridge, in a Thunder Storm

c.1799–1805
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Group of Figures Struggling in Water’ c.1802–10

Joseph Mallord William Turner Group of Figures Struggling in Water

c.1802–10
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures’ c.1810

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Group of Figures

c.1810
View by appointment
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures; Composition Study for ‘Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc’’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Group of Figures; Composition Study for ‘Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc’

c.1799–1805
View by appointment