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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Oxford c.1787-91 > Oxford and Other Subjects > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Christ Church, Oxford, from Merton Fields c.1790

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Christ Church, Oxford, from Merton Fields’ c.1790
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Christ Church, Oxford, from Merton Fields c.1790
D00115
Turner Bequest VIII A
Pencil and watercolour with ruled washline border (cut down) on white wove paper, 273 x 332 mm
Inscribed by Turner in watercolour ‘William Turner’ on fence, lower right, and ‘CHRIST CHURCH | OXFORD’ in border, bottom centre
Stamped in black ‘VIII A’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Technically this drawing has features in common with the coloured work of the Oxford sketchbook, notably the view of Lacy’s Court, Abingdon (Tate D00014; Turner Bequest II 4); but the intensity of the palette and the confidence with which the figures are introduced suggest that it dates from a little later.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed in pencil, in a later hand ‘No 18’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Christ Church, Oxford, from Merton Fields c.1790 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-christ-church-oxford-from-merton-fields-r1140099, accessed 25 April 2024.