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Portrait of J.M.W. Turner

Maker

(artist)
1817-1897

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1837

Medium

graphite and red-orange chalk on wove paper, with an added border of white paper with brown ink framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 22.3 cm
Width: 16.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2947

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Turner’s well-known diffidence accounts for the few portraits of him by other artists; most, such as this drawing, are surreptitious sketches. John Gilbert shows Turner at his easel, palette and brush in hand and paint rag at the ready, preparing to retouch his oil painting Regulus on ‘Varnishing Day’ at the British Institution. The three-quarter length profile, seen from below, gives the artist an air of distinction that belies his short, stout and frequently shabby demeanour.

Notes

A drawing after this is in the NPG (NPG 5566), which they date circa 1837, hence the date given here. The British Museum has two lithographs and a wood engraving after this drawing (1886,0903.11, 1886,0903.12, 1895,0617.709).

Provenance

W. Sabin & Sons; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on 12 May 1938; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 12 September 1938 (£11); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Sir John Gilbert, Guildhall Art Gallery & London & England, 29/04/2011-28/08/2011

Paths to Fame - Turner's Watercolour Landscapes, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/2008-25/01/2009

Paths to Fame - Turner's Watercolour Landscapes, Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, England, 16/07/2008-12/10/2008 ...More

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948 ...Less

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 23

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948
no. 29

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso: lower left, graphite, erased: "1749 / Cont. s/vt [?]"; lower left corner, graphite: "3."; lower left, graphite: "Portrait of J.M.W. Turner. / J. Gilbert".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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