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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Studies Related to Oil Paintings c.1819 ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Calculations; Colour Tests c.1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Calculations; Colour Tests’ c.1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Inscription by Turner: Calculations; Colour Tests c.1845
D36121
Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 273v
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 228 x 290 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil with extensive calculations (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed in pencil ‘89’ top left
Inscribed in pencil ‘ccclxiv 273’ bottom centre
Stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram over ‘CCCLXIV – 273’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
To the left of centre and towards the bottom left, inverted relative to the later inscription and stamp, Turner has made the following loose pencil calculations:
4 – 8
2 7 – 64
48
20
68
[?S...d] country – 48
The first two lines are cancelled by a bold diagonal stroke. The other way up at the bottom centre appear to be a few scattered figures including ‘10’, ‘1’, ‘2’ and possibly ‘9’; two of these coincide with one of the watercolour test strokes scattered across the surface, including red, deep yellow, blues and various browns, greys and black.
The recto, a composition with figures in a landscape, is Tate D36120 (Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 273).

Matthew Imms
August 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Inscription by Turner: Calculations; Colour Tests c.1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-inscription-by-turner-calculations-colour-tests-r1184449, accessed 24 April 2024.