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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > River Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Wooded ?River Scene c.1823-4

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Wooded ?River Scene’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 40 Verso:
A Wooded ?River Scene c.1823–4
D17831
Turner Bequest CCIV 40a
Chalk on white wove paper, 111 x 190 mm
Part watermark ‘R Bar | 18’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this atmospheric chiaroscuro study in black chalk shows a woodland glade, apparently with the water of a river or pond in the foreground. A white shape carefully outlined towards the right suggests a stone bust or possibly the pier of a gatepost or wall. The setting may be a real one, or evoked by the scenery of the Thames Valley (see under folio 2 recto (D17755). The use of black chalk to create a strong chiaroscuro effect is unusual in Turner’s sketchbooks.
Technical notes:
The strong offsetting of chalk on the otherwise blank folio 41 recto opposite (D17832), heaviest in the areas corresponding to the three chalk studies on the recto of the present page (D17830) suggests that Turner was working in from the back of the book at this stage.

Matthew Imms
November 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Wooded ?River Scene c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-wooded-river-scene-r1172538, accessed 25 April 2024.