Joseph Mallord William Turner

Coastal Terrain

c.1841–5

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium
Watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 185 × 230 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D27596
Turner Bequest CCLXXX 79

Display caption

This watercolour was originally catalogued as part of the group of miscellaneous studies for book illustrations, which were produced by Turner between 1826 and about 1835. However, the sheet bears a Whatman watermark of 1841, which places it somewhat later than the vignette designs. The intense colours of the sunset overwhelm everything else in this subject, but it is possible to make out the vague suggestion of a tower on a headland, perhaps representing the cliffs at either Folkestone or Dover.

Gallery label, September 2004

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