Watercolor, graphite, and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/4 x 18 inches (28.6 x 45.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, verso, lower right: "D"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.4.1620
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
landscape | river | banks | trees | rocks (landforms)
Associated Places:
Washburn | North Yorkshire | Europe | United Kingdom | England
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Royal Academy of Arts, 2007-10-20 - 2008-01-27)Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)Presences of Nature - British Landscape 1780-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-10-20 - 1983-02-27)English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17)
Publications:
John Baskett, Paul Mellon's Legacy: a Passion for British Art: Masterpieces from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, p. 283, no. 87, pl. 87, N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Louis Hawes, Presences of Nature : British Landscape, 1780-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1982, pp. 60, 175, no. IV.31, pl. 49, ND1354.4 H38 (YCBA)Lucinda Lax, J. M. W. Turner : romance & reality, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, p. 6, V 2981 (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 2, no. 87, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Ian Warrell, Turner's Sketchbooks, Tate Publishing, London, 2014, p. 75, NJ18.T85 W378 2014 (YCBA)Ian Warrell, Turner, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, pp. 47, 56-57, pl. 21, NJ18 .T85 W37 2025 (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 361, no. 539, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Turner made these watercolors while visiting Farnley Hall, the home of his longtime friend and patron Sir Walter Fawkes. Representing an idyllic stretch of river in the nearby Washburn Valley, they show how the artist developed initial studies into finished works. The drawing on the left was part of a large sketchbook devoted to Yorkshire subjects. With its loose washes of color applied over faint graphite outlines, it typifies the kind of rapid visual notations that Turner made on the spot. By comparison, the finished watercolor to the right, though identical in composition, employs finely graduated washes to enrich the scene with natural color. These are overlaid with minutely worked lines and strokes of paint to render fine surface texture and detail, especially in the trunk and branches of the foreground tree. Turner has even introduced an additional pictorial detail, the kingfisher that perches on a rock in the river, subtly enhancing the image’s narrative and visual interest. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)