Joseph Mallord William Turner

?Boats in Portsmouth Harbour

1844

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 74 x 116 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D35690
Turner Bequest CCCLXII 3 a

Catalogue entry

Like the other rapid sketches in this book, this relates to the arrival of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, at Portsmouth Harbour on 8 October 1844, as discussed in the Introductions to the sketchbook and the overall section.
The very slight, disjointed forms here suggest Turner’s fleeting impressions of shipping underway. The clearest form at the right appears to be a boat which is level with one or two similar forms immediately opposite on folio 4 recto (D35691), where the towers on the skyline suggest that the two pages from a panoramic view of Portsmouth eastwards from the harbour.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

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