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 ... > London Bridge and Portsmouth Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Gosport and Portsmouth from the Sea; Shipping ?1824

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Gosport and Portsmouth from the Sea; Shipping’ ?1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Gosport and Portsmouth from the Sea; Shipping ?1824
D17925
Turner Bequest CCVI 7
Pencil on white wove paper, 100 x 160 mm
Watermark ‘1821’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCVI – 7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
At the gutter is a brief continuation from the view of Gosport and Portsmouth from the sea on folio 6 verso opposite (D17924), under which the subject is discussed; here the Square Tower semaphore station and Portsmouth Cathedral are seen.
Otherwise, with the page turned vertically, there are two studies of sailing boats manoeuvring at some speed, separated by a horizontal pencil line. At the bottom right relative to them, a small study of a similar boat with a warship moored beyond is framed by pencil lines as if to form a thumbnail study for a painting.
This is one of a continuous series of views around Portsmouth between folios 1 recto and 20 recto (D17913–D17951); many appear to have been made from a boat; for the overall sequence and details of the most prominent buildings and defences, see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Gosport and Portsmouth from the Sea; Shipping ?1824 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 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-gosport-and-portsmouth-from-the-sea-shipping-r1172642, accessed 26 April 2024.