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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822-3

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 28 Verso
Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822–3
D17751
Turner Bequest CCII 28 a
Pencil on paper, 257 x 178 mm
Blind-stamped five times with Turner Bequest monogram: top left, top left towards periphery of sheet, left near periphery of sheet, centre slightly towards right, top centre slightly towards right (relative to foliation)
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned upside down relative to the foliation, Turner has divided the sheet to accommodate five separate pencil sketches of classical compositions. Clockwise from the top left is a drawing of what could be a pastoral scene, a hillside and trees framing figures in between and a vista beyond. In the top right drawing a bridge and trees are represented with a towered building and arched monument either side, probably a river view. Beneath this drawing is a more elaborate, worked up sketch of what seems to be a classical harbour scene. Figures congregate beneath porticoes on one side of the water’s edge, the curve of a sail can be seen in the middle of the drawing with the profile of a towered monument in the distance and the sun high in the sky. Trees and more figures seem to people the right side of the composition. Below this, at the bottom right of the sheet, is what appears to be an interior scene. Columns, a balustrade and the steps towards an arched passageway can be made out. There is also a group of reclining figures, perhaps a statue on a pedestal, at the right. The final drawing, the largest of the group, may be related to the previous composition: a classical interior scene with figures.

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822–3 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-for-classical-compositions-r1148321, accessed 28 March 2024.