J.M.W. Turner
>
Project overview
Joseph Mallord William Turner Petworth House: Two Artists in the Old Library, with Washington Allston's Painting 'Jacob's Dream' Hanging over the Fireplace ('The Artist and the Amateur') 1827
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Petworth House: Two Artists in the Old Library, with Washington Allston's Painting 'Jacob's Dream' Hanging over the Fireplace ('The Artist and the Amateur')
1827
Petworth House: Two Artists in the Old Library, with Washington Allston’s Painting ‘Jacob’s Dream’ Hanging over the Fireplace (‘The Artist and the Amateur’) 1827
D22765
Turner Bequest CCXLIV 103
Turner Bequest CCXLIV 103
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 140 x 191 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 103’ bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 103’ bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1913
Art Gallery, Merthyr Tydfil, December 1913–May 1914 (no catalogue but numbered 133).
1914
[Petworth watercolours], Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, April–July 1914 (no catalogue found).
1914
Welsh Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, R.A., National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, October 1914–January 1915 (133).
1919
[Works from the Turner Bequest], Swansea 1919 (no catalogue found but numbered 133).
1961
J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, September–October 1961, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, October–November 1961 (16c).
1947
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947 (52).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (52c).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège, March–April 1948 (52b).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, ?March 1948 (52a or 52b).
1951
Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg: September or October 1950–March 1951, and September 1951–April 1952 (10b).
1951
The Turner Collection from Petworth, Tate Gallery, London, May–July 1951.
1938
[Display of Watercolours], National Gallery, London, December 1938–September 1939 (no catalogue), as one of ‘Three Interiors at Petworth’.
1963
J.M.W. Turner, Bridgestone Gallery, Tokyo, September–October 1963, Fine Arts Museum, Osaska, November 1963 (19b).
1964
Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours from the British Museum, London, Presented in Association with the British Council, City Hall Art Gallery, Hong Kong, January 1964 (19b).
1965
[Display of watercolours from the Turner Bequest], Tate Gallery, London, ? – [?]March 1965 (no catalogue, as ‘The artist and the amateur’).
1970
Turner at Petworth: An Exhibition Arranged by the National Trust of Drawings of Petworth by J.M.W. Turner R.A. 1775–1851, Petworth House, Petworth, June–August 1970 (no catalogue).
1974
Turner 1775–1851, Royal Academy, London, November 1974–March 1975 (359).
1977
Turner Watercolors: An Exhibition of Works Loaned by The Trustees of the British Museum, International Exhibitions Foundation tour, Cleveland Museum of Art, September–November 1977, Detroit Institute of Arts, December 1977–February 1978, Philadelphia Museum of Art, March–April 1978 (31).
1978
Turner 1775–1851, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, December 1978–February 1979 (50).
1979
Oleos y acuarelas de Joseph Mallord William Turner, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela, October[–?November] 1979 (BM 48).
1979
Exposicion del gran pintor ingles, William Turner: Oleos y acuarelas: Collecciones de la Tate Gallery, British Museum y otros museos ingleses, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, August–September 1979 (BM48).
1983
Turner and the Human Figure: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, December 1983–July 1984 (no catalogue), as ‘The artist and the amateur’.
1993
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona, September–November 1993, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación ”la Caixa”, Madrid, November 1993–January 1994 (45).
1994
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, September–December 1994 (45).
2002
Turner at Petworth, Petworth House, Petworth, July–September 2002 (61).
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.746, CCXLIV 103, as ‘The artist and the amateur’.
1914
Isaac J. Williams, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Welsh Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, R.A., exhibition catalogue, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 1914, no.133 as ‘The Artist and the Amateur’.
1961
J. Isaacs, J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1961 no.16c as ‘Artist and pupil’.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, exhibition catalogue, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947, no.52 as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, exhibition catalogue, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern 1947, no.52c as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, exhibition catalogue, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège (‘Luik’) 1948, no.52b as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, exhibition catalogue, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris 1948, no.52a or 52b as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1950
J. Isaacs, Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, exhibition British Council German tour, 1950, no.10b as one of ‘Impressions at Petworth’.
1951
John Rothenstein, The Turner Collection from Petworth, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1951 as ‘The artist and the amateur’.
1963
Basil Gray, Edward Croft-Murray and Martin Butlin, J.M.W. Turner, exhibition catalogue, Bridgestone Gallery, Tokyo 1963, no.19b as ‘Artist and pupil’.
1964
Basil Gray, Edward Croft-Murray and Martin Butlin, Turner 1775–1851: An Exhibition of Watercolours from the British Museum London, Presented in Association with the British Council, exhibition catalogue, City Hall Art Gallery, Hong Kong 1964, no.19b as ‘Artist and pupil’.
1970
Lord Egremont and Kenneth Clark, Turner at Petworth: An Exhibition Arranged by the National Trust of Drawings of Petworth by J.M.W. Turner R.A. 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Petworth House, Petworth 1970, pl.2 (opposite p.5).
1974
Martin Butlin, Andrew Wilton and John Gage, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London 1974, p.111, 114 reproduced as ‘Petworth: Two Artists painting’.
1975
Gerald Wilkinson, Turner’s Colour Sketches 1820–34, London 1975, p.60 reproduced.
1977
Andrew Wilton, Turner Watercolors: An Exhibition of Works Loaned by The Trustees of the British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Cleveland Museum of Art 1977, no.31 reproduced as ‘Petworth: Two Artists Painting’.
1978
John Sillevis, Nini Jonker and Hripsimé Visser, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague 1978, no.50 reproduced as ‘Petworth, two artists painting’, p.119.
1979
John Gage and Ana T. de Gradowska, Oleos y acuarelas de Joseph Mallord William Turner, exhibition catalogue, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela 1979, no.BM 48.
1979
John Gage, Exposicion del gran pintor ingles, William Turner: Oleos y acuarelas: Collecciones de la Tate Gallery, British Museum y otros museos ingleses, exhibition catalogue, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City 1979, no.BM48.
1987
John Gage, J.M.W. Turner: ‘A Wonderful Range of Mind’, New Haven and London 1987, p.163, [164] fig.243, 166.
1987
Andrew Wilton, Turner in his Time, London 1987, p.155, 198, 199 pl.274 (cited incorrectly as ‘CCXLIV–102’).
1989
Martin Butlin, Mollie Luther and Ian Warrell, Turner at Petworth: Painter and Patron, London 1989, pp.53, 61, 70 note 1, 145, 146, 196 pl.46.
1990
Martin Butlin, Mollie Luther and Ian Warrell, Turner: Les Années Egremont: Chefs d’oeuvre inédits, trans. Tamara Préaud, Paris 1990, pl.46.
1991
Ian Warrell, Turner: The Fourth Decade: Watercolours 1820–1830, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1991, p.61 under no.66.
1991
Michael Bockemühl, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Die Welt des Lichts und der Farbe, Cologne 1991, pp.50 reproduced, 64.
1993
Michael Bockemühl, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: The World of Light and Colour, trans. Michael Claridge, Cologne 1993, pp.50 reproduced, 64.
1993
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, exhibition catalogue, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona 1993, no.45 reproduced, p.279.
1993
Joyce Townsend, Turner’s Painting Techniques, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1993, pp.17, 78 [80 in 2nd edition] Chapter 1 note 9.
1994
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, exhibition catalogue, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi 1994, no.45 reproduced, p.34.
1997
Christopher Rowell, Petworth House, West Sussex, London 1997, p.86.
2009
David Solkin (ed.), Turner and the Masters, exhibition catalogue, Tate Britain, London 2009, pp.174 under nos.64 and 65, 177 under nos.64 and 65, 230 note 5.
2002
Christopher Rowell, Ian Warrell and David Blayney Brown, Turner at Petworth, exhibition catalogue, Petworth House, Petworth 2002, pp.153, 154 fig.146, 194 no.61.
2004
Olivier Meslay, Turner: L’Incendie de la peinture, Découvertes Gallimard Arts, [Paris] 2004, pp.41, 43 reproduced.
2005
Olivier Meslay, J.M.W. Turner: The Man Who Set Painting on Fire, trans. Ruth Sharman, London 2005, pp.41, 43 reproduced.
This is one of a large group of separate studies, most of which were made in gouache and watercolour on blue paper, associated with a visit to Petworth House in West Sussex, the home of the third Earl of Egremont. For more information, see the Introduction to this section.
The backdrop for this scene of artistic exchange is the north wall of Petworth’s Old Library, a room used as a studio by artists staying in the house; for more information and a list of other studies of this room, see the entry for Tate D22685 (Turner Bequest CCXLIV 23). The large painting on the wall is Jacob’s Dream by the American artist Washington Allston (1779–1843): this work was acquired by Lord Egremont in 1819 and is still in the Petworth collection today. Ian Warrell linked this painting to another blue paper study by Turner, also catalogued in the present section (Tate D40103; Turner Bequest CCXLIV 263a), which appears to loosely rework Allston’s composition.1 Also prominent in the interior is the sculpture in front of the easel: Joseph Nollekens’s Seated Venus (Petworth House),2 while the many framed pictures leaning on the walls and furniture give a sense of both the house’s extensive art collection and of the creativity it inspired. The small portrait seen leaning on the plinth in the left foreground and the rug on the right add touches of vibrant red to the composition.
The figures themselves have been known as ‘the artist and the amateur’ since the sheet was first catalogued by A.J. Finberg in 1909;3 this is clearly a scene of artistic exchange, with two men discussing the canvas that we, as viewers of Turner’s depiction of the scene, only see the back of. The canvas and the seated man may be the same as those seen in D22682 (Turner Bequest CCXLIV 20); while the suggestion that the younger looking man is Sir William Beechey (1753–1839)4 seems unlikely (Beechey was seventy-four by 1827), it seems possible that Turner shows Beechey advising a younger artist or assistant.
Verso:
Blank, save for inscriptions: inscribed in pencil ‘38’ centre; stamped in black Stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 103’ bottom left; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left.
Elizabeth Jacklin
February 2019
How to cite
Elizabeth Jacklin, ‘Petworth House: Two Artists in the Old Library, with Washington Allston’s Painting ‘Jacob’s Dream’ Hanging over the Fireplace (‘The Artist and the Amateur’) 1827’, catalogue entry, February 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2024, https://www