Scene on the French Coast (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 4)
Turner distilled his ideas about landscape In "Liber Studiorum" (Latin for Book of Studies), a series of seventy prints plus a frontispiece published between 1807 and 1819. To establish the compositions, he made brown watercolor drawings, then etched outlines onto copper plates. Professional engravers usually developed the tone under Turner's direction, and Charles Turner here added mezzotint to describe a vessel being unloaded on a wide beach whose end is guarded by a castle. The artist's working title was "French Coast," and he seems to have avoided specifying a particular location, but likely intended the men who load goods onto horses in the foreground to represent smugglers. The "M" in the top margin indicates Turner's category of Marine landscape.
Artwork Details
- Title: Scene on the French Coast (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 4)
- Artist: Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
- Engraver: Charles Turner (British, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 1774–1857 London)
- Publisher: Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
- Date: June 11, 1807
- Medium: Etching and mezzotint; third state of three (Finberg)
- Dimensions: plate: 7 1/4 x 10 3/16 in. (18.4 x 25.9 cm)
sheet: 8 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. (21 x 29.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
- Object Number: 29.107.119
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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