Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, BritishEngraved by Thomas Goff Lupton, 1791–1873, Britishafter Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British
Title:
Ploughing, Eton
Date:
1818
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; second plate, reprinted for Rawlinson on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/2 × 16 5/8 inches (29.2 × 42.2 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, lower left: "One of 17 Selected Impressions"; lower left: "R.79"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower left: "J.M.W.Turner | Ploughing, Eton;" lower center: "Etched & Engraved by T.Lupton, reprinted for Rawlinson c 187- The note on the front is his"; lower right: "In Henry Theobald's Collection May 1925"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.13970
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Currently On View:
Not on view
Gallery Label:
According to Turner, all landscapes belong to one of six fundamental categories: Architectural, Historical, Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, and Elevated Pastoral. These prints are part of a systematic publication, the Liber Studiorum (“Book of Studies”), containing examples from each of these categories. This work provides further testimony to the enduring influence of Claude Lorrain. Claude made sepia ink and wash drawings to record all his authentic compositions and brought them together to form his celebrated Liber Veritatis (“Book of Truth”). These drawings came to be seen as the epitome of the art of landscape and were later reproduced as fine mezzotints. They inspired Turner to make his own, even more ambitious equivalents. Though imitating the format and sepia coloring of Claude’s drawings, Turner’s plates were intended not as a record of his paintings but to illustrate his own original theory of landscape art. Although never completely finished, the Liber Studiorum is among the artist’s most personal and pioneering contributions to the practice of printmaking. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)