Joseph Mallord William Turner

Figures, with a ?Fisherman Reaching over the Side of a Boat

c.1826–40

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium: Gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 141 × 189 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D24624
Turner Bequest CCLIX 59

Catalogue entry

While other elements, apparently also figures, are barely developed, in the centre a man leans over the side of a small boat. There is a hint of reflection from his pale clothing, and he may be a fisherman reaching into shallow water or attending to a beached boat. For other scenes with fishermen, see the Introduction.

As discussed there, this is one of the subjects of figures by the sea which Ian Warrell tentatively suggested as linked to Brighton around 1827, while noting that they could equally well show scenes in England or France on other occasions.1

See Warrell 1989, pp.120, 123 note 114.

Verso:

Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘311 | O’ bottom right (partly obscured); inscribed in pencil ‘54–68’ top left; inscribed in pencil ‘D24624’ bottom left. There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

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