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Creator:
Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Engraved by Charles Turner, 1774–1857
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:
Original Sketch of a Picture for W. Leader, Esq.
Additional Title(s):

The Leader Sea-piece

The Guard-ship at the Nore
Part Of:

Collective Title: Liber Studiorum

Date:
1809
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint printed in brown ink, with graphite; touched engraver's proof (b) on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 8 3/4 × 12 1/8 inches (22.2 × 30.8 cm), Plate: 8 1/4 × 11 3/8 inches (21 × 28.9 cm), Image: 7 × 10 1/8 inches (17.8 × 25.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in graphite, upper right: "20"; lower left: "[...]"; lower center: "Before the M - the distand sea & boats touched by Turner"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower left: "JHH | Col | F | Mar. 52"

Collector’s mark: Earl George Cathcart (Lugt 483); collector's mark: John Heywood Hawkins (Lugt 1472)

Lettered below image: "Drawn & Etched by J.M.W.Turner Esqr. R.A.P.P. | Engraved by Chas.Turner | Original Sketch of a Picture for W.Leader Esqr. | London Published March 29, 1809, by C.Turner, No.50, Warren Street, Fitzroy Square"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8124
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
leader | sailboats | sea
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26166
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According to Turner, all landscapes belong to one of six fundamental categories: Architectural, Historical, Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, and Elevated Pastoral. These prints are part of a systematic publication, the Liber Studiorum (“Book of Studies”), containing examples from each of these categories. This work provides further testimony to the enduring influence of Claude Lorrain. Claude made sepia ink and wash drawings to record all his authentic compositions and brought them together to form his celebrated Liber Veritatis (“Book of Truth”). These drawings came to be seen as the epitome of the art of landscape and were later reproduced as fine mezzotints. They inspired Turner to make his own, even more ambitious equivalents. Though imitating the format and sepia coloring of Claude’s drawings, Turner’s plates were intended not as a record of his paintings but to illustrate his own original theory of landscape art. Although never completely finished, the Liber Studiorum is among the artist’s most personal and pioneering contributions to the practice of printmaking.

Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)

The Creative Printmaker (Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art, 1986-03-05 - 1986-04-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Creative Printmaker (Yale Center for British Art, 1985-07-09 - 1985-09-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]


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