A Curtained Bed, with the Entwined Legs and Feet of a Man and Woman
- Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Date: c.1834–6
- Medium: Graphite and ink on paper
- Dimensions: support: 77 x 101 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is “A Curtained Bed, with the Entwined Legs and Feet of a Man and Woman” by Joseph Mallord William Turner, created around 1834‑36. In this tiny graphite‑and‑ink study—just 77 by 101 mm—Turner sketches an intimate domestic scene: a curtained bed with a man's and a woman's legs and feet wrapped together in a quiet, almost erotic embrace. The sketch is part of his Colour Studies sketchbook, the Finberg CCXCI b volume that was later included in the Turner Bequest that the nation accepted in 1856.
Turner’s loose, expressive lines capture the softness of the fabric and the subtle tension of the entwined limbs, hinting at the lightness that would become a hallmark of his later works. Even in this modest medium and size, the artist’s preoccupation with atmosphere and the human form shows early signs of the dramatic mood he would later create on a grander scale.
The drawing sits in the cataloguing area of Tate Britain, a reminder of how much of Turner’s genius was captured in quick, on‑the‑go sketches that were later treasured as part of the nation’s public collection.
See it in person
A Curtained Bed, with the Entwined Legs and Feet of a Man and Woman is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
