In Tate Britain
- Artist
- Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 743 × 584 mm
frame: 985 × 820 × 110 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
- Reference
- N00458
Display caption
Turner painted this self-portrait in around 1799 when he was 24 years old. He possibly intended to mark his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy. This was an important moment in his career. It meant he could exhibit his works in the Academy without fear of rejection by any members of the committee. Despite his young age, Turner had already made a name for himself as an original, accomplished painter with great technical skill.
This self-portrait features on the £20 note issued by the Bank of England in March 2020.
Gallery label, July 2020
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Catalogue entry
25. [N00458] Self-Portrait c. 1798
THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (458)
Canvas, 29 1/4 ×23 (74·5 ×58·5)
Coll. Turner Bequest 1856 (92, ‘Portrait of J.M.W. Turner’ 2'5" × 1'11"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1910.
Exh. National Portrait Exhibition 1868 (94); Tate Gallery 1931 (13); Venice and Rome 1948 (1, repr.); R.A. 1974–5 (B1, repr. as frontispiece); Leningrad and Moscow 1975–6 (88).
Lit. Thornbury 1862, i, pp. 45, 63; ii, p. 320; 1877, pp. 25, 36, 42, 392, 419; Hamerton 1879, p. 38; Armstrong 1902, pp. 28–9, 227, repr. facing p. 8; MacColl 1920, p. 2; Davies 1946, p. 187; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, p. 76, pl. 1; Herrmann 1975, p. 225, pl. 1.
Datable c. 1798 for reasons of style and the age of the sitter.
Published in:
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
You might like
-
Joseph Mallord William Turner Sheet of Studies: An Old Bearded Man Seen in Profile with a Boy Reaching Past him, Holding a Hat
c.1796–7 -
Sir Thomas Lawrence John Philip Kemble as Hamlet
1801 -
Sir Joshua Reynolds Self-Portrait
c.1775 -
Joseph Mallord William Turner Rome, from the Vatican. Raffaelle, Accompanied by La Fornarina, Preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia
exhibited 1820 -
Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey Self-Portrait
c.1810 -
Sir William Beechey James P. Johnstone
date not known -
John Opie Portrait of the Artist
c.1790 -
John Thomas Smith Portrait of J.M.W. Turner, R.A.
date not known -
Daniel Stringer Portrait of the Artist
1776 -
Alfred Stevens Self-Portrait at the Age of 14
1832 -
Sir Joshua Reynolds Self-Portrait as a Deaf Man
c.1775 -
Gilbert Stuart Portrait of a Man (Self-portrait?)
c.1782–9 -
After John Hamilton Mortimer Self-Portrait
date not known -
Lemuel Francis Abbott Portrait of the Engraver Francesco Bartolozzi
date not known -
Johan Zoffany Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match
c.1784–6
