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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Margate, London and Surrey c.1829-45 > Colnaghi's Account Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Sailing Boats c.1829-30

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Sailing Boats’ c.1829-30
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Verso:
Studies of Sailing Boats c.1829–30
D22576
Turner Bequest CCXLII 16a
Pencil on white laid paper, 129 x 75 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXLII – 16a’ top right, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, there are three levels of studies here. Allowing for the rubbing to the surface of the page against the rear pastedown which slightly disrupts the reading, at the top appears to be a sailing boat with its mast tilted sharply to the right, with cliffs or buildings beyond and a jagged line of cloud or even lightning at the top left. At the centre is a single boat, with what may be a coastline in the distance to the left. At the bottom, separated by a horizontal pencil line, several boats sail towards the right, with the one at the far left possibly separated by a vertical line.
The occasion of these sketches is unknown; possibly they were made on the South Coast (see the sketchbook’s Introduction).

Matthew Imms
May 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Studies of Sailing Boats c.1829–30 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2014, 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-of-sailing-boats-r1148352, accessed 23 April 2024.