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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Perspective lectures c.1809-28 > Perspective Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Tree Trunks and a Wall, with their Reflections in Water c.1809

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Tree Trunks and a Wall, with their Reflections in Water’ c.1809
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Tree Trunks and a Wall, with their Reflections in Water circa 1809
D07366
Turner Bequest CVIII 7
Pencil on white wove paper, 88 x 115 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Sky’, ‘wall’ and ‘water’ within the drawing, and ‘another proof of power of secondary lights’ along bottom edge
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CVIII – 7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing appears to be from nature, perhaps on the wooded banks of the Thames west of London so familiar to Turner. There is a similar semi-diagramatic drawing (this time of a sailing boat), apparently observed but put to a theoretical use, on folio 81 verso (D07491).

Matthew Imms
June 2008

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Tree Trunks and a Wall, with their Reflections in Water c.1809 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2008, 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-tree-trunks-and-a-wall-with-their-reflections-in-water-r1136561, accessed 25 April 2024.