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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Thames sketchbooks c.1804-14 > Hesperides (1) Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Studies Related to 'Men with Horses Crossing a River': (i) Figures and Horses; (ii) Men with Horses and a Wagon 1805

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Studies Related to 'Men with Horses Crossing a River': (i) Figures and Horses; (ii) Men with Horses and a Wagon’ 1805 (Inside back cover of sketchbook)
Inside back cover of sketchbook
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Inside Back Cover:
Two Studies Related to ‘Men with Horses Crossing a River’: (i) Figures and Horses; (ii) Men with Horses and a Wagon 1805
D40635
Pencil and pen and ink on white wove paper, 171 x 262 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Two sketches, one above the other; the lower, in pencil, very slight and evidently drawn on the spot, depicts horses and a wagon while the one above, in ink, shows a different group of horses with four figures in front of a group of trees. The latter served as the basis for the central motif of the contemporary, unfinished oil known as Men with Horses Crossing a River (Tate N02695) 1, to which folios 44 recto and verso (D05842, D05844) are also related; in each case the connection was first recognised by Hill, who observes that the horses are being watered, not crossing a river. See 44 recto for the likely connection with Richmond scenery.

David Blayney Brown
October 2007

1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.118 no.170 (pl.170).

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Two Studies Related to ‘Men with Horses Crossing a River’: (i) Figures and Horses; (ii) Men with Horses and a Wagon 1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2007, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-studies-related-to-men-with-horses-crossing-a-river-i-r1130066, accessed 24 April 2024.