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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Lowland and River Colour Studies c.1820 ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A River or Lake among Hills c.1820-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A River or Lake among Hills’ c.1820-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A River or Lake among Hills c.1820–40
D25285
Turner Bequest CCLXIII 163
Watercolour on paper, 300 x 483 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘163’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIII – 163 bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This loose landscape study appears to comprise a wide river or lake among hills, with trees on a far bank or possibly an island. The relatively enclosed landscape seems to preclude a link with the lake at Petworth House in Sussex, as suggested by Eric Shanes1 (see under Tate D25230; Turner Bequest CCLXIII 108); his other suggestion, a ‘Swiss subject’ appears more feasible, although the landscape maysimply be a generic study in atmosphere and colour.
1
See Shanes 1997, pp.100, 103.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘AB 150 P | O’ bottom right; inscribed in pencil ‘CCLXIII | 163’ bottom right; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram over ‘CCLXIII – 163’ bottom right.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A River or Lake among Hills c.1820–40 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-river-or-lake-among-hills-r1183217, accessed 23 April 2024.