Joseph Mallord William Turner

?Richmond Hill from the River Thames

c.1823–4

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
River Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 111 × 190 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D17815
Turner Bequest CCIV 32 a

Catalogue entry

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this sketch of cattle on a riverbank with buildings above was identified by Finberg as a view of Windsor Castle,1 a frequent subject,2 but the skyline is perhaps more reminiscent of Richmond Hill from the west; compare another likely view on folio 9 recto (D17785), and the detailed depiction in the 1805 Studies for Pictures: Isleworth sketchbook (Tate D05514; Turner Bequest XC 18).
Finberg interpreted an inscription on another page as ‘Windsor’ (folio 18 verso; D17796), but this too seems doubtful. For other Thames views, see under folio 2 recto (D17775).
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.619.
2
See for instance David Hill, Turner on the Thames: River Journeys in the Year 1805, New Haven and London 1993, pp.63–75.
Technical notes:
A short tear to the outer edge has been repaired.

Matthew Imms
November 2014

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