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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Tall Trees on Richmond Hill c.1816-19

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 85 Recto
Tall Trees on Richmond Hill circa 1816–19
D10562
Turner Bequest CXL 77
Pencil on white wove paper, 155 x 95 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘77’ top left, running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXL 77’ top right, running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
See notes to folio 78 verso of the sketchbook (D10549; Turner Bequest CXL 70a) for a run of sketches associated by Eric Shanes with Turner’s watercolour Richmond Terrace, Surrey (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool)1 engraved by J.T. Willmore in 1836 for Picturesque Views in England and Wales, but surely earlier and related to other Richmond subjects as well. Butlin and Joll cite this drawing along with others running to folio 90 (D10572; Turner Bequest CXL 82) as similar in general terms to the composition of England: Richmond Hill, on the Prince Regent’s Birthday (Tate N00502)2 exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1819. Here, as in other views on folios 87 verso–89 (D10567–D10570; Turner Bequest CXL 79a–80), Turner emphasises the tall trees that are such graceful features in that picture, framing the composition on either side. This sketch might have helped to form the central part of the picture, with the Thames in the middle distance to left of centre and three trees in the foreground to right.

David Blayney Brown
July 2011

1
Andrew Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg 1979, p.403 no.879.
2
Butlin and Joll 1984, pp.106–7 no.140 (pl.145).

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Tall Trees on Richmond Hill c.1816–19 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2011, 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-tall-trees-on-richmond-hill-r1131556, accessed 29 March 2024.