Joseph Mallord William Turner

Two Groups of Figures ?Engaged in Sexual Activity

c.1810

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Academy Auditing Sketchbook [Finberg CCX(a)]
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 115 x 187 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D18512
Turner Bequest CCX a 31

Catalogue entry

As discussed in the introduction, most of the drawings in this book are rapid figure studies, many of which are explicitly erotic; others may be similar in intent, but are difficult to make out, and may be of classical or biblical subjects. Here there are a reclining and a seated figure on the left, with a dynamic group on the right including a naked woman with her arms raised.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
January 2012

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