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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Northern France c.1826-32 > Loose Studies of Northern France > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures on a Beach, near Calais c.1826-30

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures on a Beach, near Calais’ c.1826-30
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Figures on a Beach, near Calais c.1826–30
D24880
Turner Bequest CCLX 44
Gouache, ink and watercolour on faded blue paper, 141 x 184 mm
Blind stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram, bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CCLX – 44’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a batch of ink sketches of Calais on blue paper which can be dated on stylistic grounds to the later 1820s. Beyond the beach, where figures are gathering bait, the Fort Rouge can be seen just off the coast on the horizon line. The exact occasion of these studies is unknown although Turner specialist Ian Warrell has suggested a link to the return leg of the artist’s tour of Northern France in the autumn of 1826. 1 See the Introduction to this section for a list of these works.
1
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, pp. 32, 253 note 86, 254 note 99.
Technical Notes:
The blue paper has faded to a light brown upon exposure to light, leaving a thin margin blue around the edge of the sheet.
Verso:
Inscribed in pencil with the note ‘CCLX – 44’.

John Chu
March 2016

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Figures on a Beach, near Calais c.1826–30 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-figures-on-a-beach-near-calais-r1185567, accessed 24 April 2024.