Joseph Mallord William Turner

A Rocky Wooded Hillside

c.1794

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: None
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D41457
Turner Bequest XXXII F v

Catalogue entry

Finberg records an inscription: ‘Mr Turner’. When the drawing was lifted from its modern backing paper it was not found, but instead part of a soft-ground etching showing a rocky wooded hillside. The style of the drawing in this print suggests that it is Turner’s own work of about 1794. Compare the fragmentary print Tate D41464 (Turner Bequest XXXII C v).

Turner had noted etching materials, and even possibly planned a series of etchings by himself, as early 1791; see Tate D40213 (Turner Bequest V D [verso]). There is further evidence of a returning interest in etching in a note in his Studies near Brighton sketchbook (Tate D40761; Turner Bequest XXX inside back cover).

Technical notes:

The sheet had been folded vertically two-thirds of the way across.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

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