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 Man on a Beach, with Distant Boats c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Man on a Beach, with Distant Boats’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Man on a Beach, with Distant Boats c.1826–40
D24939
Turner Bequest CCLX 103
Chalk on blue wove paper, 136 x 192 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘103’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLX 103’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This slight sketch shows a man looking out over the waves approaching a beach, possibly with other figures beyond, with slight indications of boats in the distance. See the Introduction for other examples of such scenes, and compare Tate D24940 (Turner Bequest CCLX 104).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘52 | O’ bottom right. There is some brown staining, possibly from the 1928 Tate Gallery flood.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Man on a Beach, with Distant Boats 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-man-on-a-beach-with-distant-boats-r1182590, accessed 19 April 2024.