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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies on the River Thames at Hampton Court c.1827

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 39 Verso:
Studies on the River Thames at Hampton Court c.1827
D20792
Turner Bequest CCXXVII 37a
Pencil on white wove paper, 110 x 185 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[...] Wh[...] Ham [?the Bright Light]’ along top, ‘[?Curious effect of]’ towards top left, ‘[?Trs]’, ‘Sky’, ‘Trees’ and ‘cold water dark’ towards top right, ‘4’ and ‘[?7]’ bottom centre, and ‘W’, ‘[?G]’, ‘S’ and ‘Red’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
These scattered, rapid drawings and comments are inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. They note aspects of the scene looking north over the River Thames to Hampton Court Palace –including the crenellations of the Tudor range south of the Base Court, the low rectangular form of the detached Banqueting House and passing passenger boats as well as effects of light and colours – and would have informed his finished watercolour Hampton Court Palace of about 1827 (private collection),1 engraved in 1829 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Tate impression: T04550).
There are comparably quick details on folios 40 verso and 41 verso (D20794, D20796; Turner Bequest CCXXVII 38a, 39a); see under folio 2 verso for other studies in this sketchbook.

Matthew Imms
November 2015

1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.395 no.812.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Studies on the River Thames at Hampton Court c.1827 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 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-studies-on-the-river-thames-at-hampton-court-r1182652, accessed 28 March 2024.