On the Washburn - YCBA Collections Search

Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British, On the Washburn, ca. 1809–15

Creator:: Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:: On the Washburn
Date:: ca. 1809–15
Materials & Techniques:: Watercolor, graphite, and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:: Sheet: 10 3/4 x 15 3/8 inches (27.3 x 39.1 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Signed in pen and brown ink, lower center: "JMW Turner RA"
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1977.14.4700
Classification:: Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:: Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:: banks | birds | kingfisher | landscape | river | rocks (landforms) | trees
Associated Places:: England | Europe | North Yorkshire | United Kingdom | Washburn
Access:: Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
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Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:5489
Export:: XML
IIIF Manifest:: JSON

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)

J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Presences of Nature - British Landscape 1780-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-10-20 - 1983-02-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours from the collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1964, no. 35, N5247.M385 L62 (YCBA) [YCBA]

British Art at Yale, Apollo, vol.105, April 1977, pp. 273, 275, fig. 13, N1 .A54 + OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Louis Hawes, Presences of Nature : British Landscape, 1780-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1982, pp. 60, 75, no. IV.30, pl. 48, ND1354.4 H38 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Graham Reynolds, English Landscape 1630-1850, Apollo, vol.105, April 1977, pp. 273, 275, fig. 13, N1 A54 105:2 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 361, no. 540, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Yale University Art Gallery, English drawings and watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, April 15-June 20,1965, , New Haven, 1965, no. 35, NC228 Y34 (YCBA) [YCBA]

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