J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Thames Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A River Scene with Trees and a Sailing Boat c.1825

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A River Scene with Trees and a Sailing Boat’ c.1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 27 Recto:
A River Scene with Trees and a Sailing Boat c.1825
D18630
Turner Bequest CCXII 27
Watercolour on white wove paper, 114 x 188 mm
Part watermark ‘Al | 18’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘27’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXII – 27’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a sequence of twenty-five recto pages of watercolour landscape, sea and sky compositions between folio 9 recto (D18609) and folio 34 recto (D18638), many of which evoke quiet Thames Valley scenes with water in the foreground; for a checklist and general comments, see the sketchbook’s Introduction. Silhouetted beyond the dark trees on the left appears to be a small sailing boat.
Technical notes:
Slight lifting of colour along an irregular, vertical line towards the left corresponds with a prominent crease at that point on the previous leaf.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A River Scene with Trees and a Sailing Boat c.1825 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-river-scene-with-trees-and-a-sailing-boat-r1172748, accessed 21 June 2025.