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 Group of Figures ?with Parasols on a Beach c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures ?with Parasols on a Beach’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Group of Figures ?with Parasols on a Beach c.1826–40
D24630
Turner Bequest CCLIX 65
Chalk and gouache on blue wove paper, 140 x 194 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘65’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 65’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The main group comprises women in colourful dresses, apparently with parasols and accompanied by one or two men, probably observed on a beach or promenade (see the Introduction for other examples). The detail to the left is less clear, but may include a small child.
As discussed in the Introduction, 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 in pencil ‘54–68’ top left; inscribed in pencil ‘D.24630’ bottom left.
There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Group of Figures ?with Parasols 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-group-of-figures-with-parasols-on-a-beach-r1182572, accessed 25 April 2024.