Watercolor and graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 10 x 15 1/4 inches (25.4 x 38.7 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.5379
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
man | woman | tree | landscape | clouds | rocks (landforms)
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)J. M. W. Turner - The Foundations of Genius (The Taft Museum, 1986-09-18 - 1986-11-02)
Publications:
Graham Reynolds, Turner, Thames & Hudson, London, 2020, fig. 10, NJ18.T85 R49 2020 (YCBA)Ian Warrell, Turner, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, p. 40, pl. 8, NJ18 .T85 W37 2025 (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 316, no. 157, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
These watercolors are among Turner’s earliest finished works, made just a few years after he began his formal training. Their dark outlines and delicate washes are typical of the topographical techniques Turner learned. But they demonstrate a unique responsiveness to surface textures, exceptional variety of line, and a strong sense of light and shade. This is even more apparent in A Great Tree, a careful study of an ancient oak in the grounds of a cottage belonging to his early patron, Dr. Thomas Monro. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)