Joseph Mallord William Turner

Trees against a Sunset Sky, with Part of Greenwich Hospital Beyond

1796–7

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Wilson Sketchbook
Medium
Gouache, graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 113 × 93 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D01123
Turner Bequest XXXVII 6

Catalogue entry

The composition continues across folio 4 recto opposite (D01124; Turner Bequest XXXVII 7). The viewpoint is presumably Greenwich Park or somewhere nearby. An alternative interpretation is that this is the dome of St Paul’s, but it is difficult to identify a hilltop from which it could be seen so close; though allowance must be made for the possibility that Turner exaggerated its scale for the purposes of his composition.

Andrew Wilton
September 2012

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