Joseph Mallord William Turner

Fishermen and a Fisherwoman on a Beach or Quay

c.1826–40

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
Medium: Gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 140 × 191 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D24628
Turner Bequest CCLIX 63

Catalogue entry

Several fishermen are shown in yellow oilskin trousers and sou’wester hats, with the outline of at least one female companion on the right. For other examples of such groups, 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 ‘34 | O’ bottom right; inscribed in pencil ‘54–68’ top left; inscribed in pencil ‘D24628’ bottom left. There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

Read full Catalogue entry