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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Figures on a Beach c.1826-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Crowd of Fishermen on a Beach c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Crowd of Fishermen on a Beach’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Crowd of Fishermen on a Beach c.1826–40
D24626
Turner Bequest CCLIX 61
Gouache, pencil and watercolour on blue wove paper, 138 x 192 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘61’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 61’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The figures in this crowd, one with crossed braces and at least one other in a characteristic sou’wester hat, appear to be fishermen. For other examples, see the Introduction.
As discussed there, this is one of the subjects of figures by the sea which Ian Warrell tentatively suggested as linked to Brighton around 1827, while noting that they could equally well show scenes in England or France on other occasions.1
1
See Warrell 1989, pp.120, 123 note 114.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘311 | O’ bottom right; inscribed in pencil ‘54–68’ top left.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Crowd of Fishermen on a Beach c.1826–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-crowd-of-fishermen-on-a-beach-r1182567, accessed 25 April 2024.