Print made by William Miller, 1796–1882, Britishafter Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British
Title:
Modern Italy
Date:
1842
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and engraving, with graphite and chine collé; touched engraver's proof (c) on thick, moderately textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 26 1/4 × 39 3/4 inches (66.7 × 101 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, upper left: "R.658 (c)"; lower left: "Engravers Proof (C); inscribed by Turner in graphite, lower left: "If you send me two more in a | fortnight they may possibly find me | and if you do not hear from immediately then you may conclude [...]"; lower left to lower center: "Too Strong all this works [...] | I agree with you all this part wants fine lines between, but in the water I doubt it much. I do not think it looks so Silvery as at first, therefore beg to let it remain. The little I have done to it, fill in the way you propose. In regard to the printing, the Sky looks perhaps better, but the distance and Castle is certainly cleared away too much. - NB Thank you for the letter | received this morning and only [...]"; lower right: "All beyond the front Trees, procession and [illeg.] I want the work quieter and | not broken into forms. I take away forms, and you follow me not, but keep all the forms. |Thus the foliage joins not with the water and remains dotty or into two many | parts all alike, and you get no tone or separation of one mass from the other. | I do not want the last 3 or 4 figures to be known what they tread on, but a ray of less definite | of equal work - or tone produced by filling in, but not in the Shadows. Make the | Front touches broad and decidedly strong."
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)Translations - Turner and Printmaking (Yale Center for British Art, 1993-09-29 - 1993-12-05)
Publications:
Eric M. Lee, Translations : Turner and printmaking, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1993, pp. 46-47, no. 195, NJ18 .T85 L44 1993 (YCBA)Sam Smiles, The late works of J. M. W. Turner : the artist and his critics, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, 2020, p. 131, fig. 65, NJ18.t85 S655 2020 Oversize (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Turner was highly conscious of the potential of printed reproductions to popularize his images and generate additional income. Always mindful of the specific requirements of the medium, he was prepared to manipulate tone, line, and detail to increase the impact of the finished print. Since most prints were made by specialist reproductive engravers, this required him to supervise their production closely. This cabinet contains touched proofs (trial prints) after his oil painting Modern Italy: The Pifferari (1838). These clearly show Turner’s almost obsessive attention to detail. Not only has he applied graphite shading to modify tonal values, but he has also written extensive notes in the margins to engraver William Miller. They include minutely detailed instructions (“Make the front touches broad and decidedly strong”) and even request changes to compositional details (“Make this into a Birds nest with Eggs”). Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)