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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Ports of England c.1822-8 > Ports of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822-3

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies for Classical Compositions’ c.1822-3
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 29 Verso
Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822–3
D17753
Turner Bequest CCII 29 a
Chalk on paper, 257 x 178 mm
Blind-stamped four times with Turner Bequest monogram (relative to foliation): top towards right, top towards left, left towards centre at periphery of sheet, centre towards top right.
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned upside down relative to the foliation, Turner has divided the sheet to accommodate what appear to be six separate pencil sketches of classical compositions. There is a repetition of arched monuments, perhaps triumphal arches or even viaducts. Figures and trees intersperse these structures. At the top right is a diminutive sketch of two figures, the one on the left seeming to lunge and gesticulate towards the other, recoiling figure.

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘Studies for Classical Compositions c.1822–3 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-for-classical-compositions-r1148323, accessed 24 April 2024.