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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Work for Earls Egremont and Lonsdale ... > Lowther Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Sketches: Figures on a River Bank 1809

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Sketches: Figures on a River Bank’ 1809
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 24 Recto:
Two Sketches: Figures on a River Bank 1809
D07890
Turner Bequest CXIII 24
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 83 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil, probably with colour notes
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘24’ top left, running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXIII 24’ top left, running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Both sketches, drawn one above the other, seem to show figures, perhaps fishermen, by a river; the subject appears more explicit in the top sketch, where there are also houses and trees on the left. Compare also folios 16, 16 verso and 56 (D07878, D07879, D07941) which have similar subjects, although not necessarily sketched on the same occasion. Here, the location may be the Thames.

David Blayney Brown
July 2009

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Two Sketches: Figures on a River Bank 1809 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2009, 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-sketches-figures-on-a-river-bank-r1135846, accessed 25 April 2024.