Sailing Boat; River Scenery; Reclining Female Nude
- Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Date: 1833
- Medium: Graphite on paper
- Dimensions: support: 113 x 185 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Sailing Boat; River Scenery; Reclining Female Nude” by Joseph Mallord William Turner, created in 1833. The piece is a graphite sketch on paper, just over a tenth of a meter long and a bit more than a quarter of a meter wide – a quick study captured on the go. Turner, known for his atmospheric landscapes, was drawing while travelling through the German south in a sketchbook that later became part of the “Brussels up to Mannheim – Rhine Sketchbook” collection.
The drawing shows a small sailing vessel drifting on a river, the water’s surface rendered with Turner’s characteristic flicks of graphite that hint at motion and light. A reclining nude woman lies beside the boat, her form rendered with loose, almost impressionistic strokes that blur her outline against the riverbank. It’s a playful, intimate juxtaposition of nature, movement, and the human body – a snapshot of leisure and landscape intermingled.
Turner produced this during a prolific period when he was sketching scenes from his travels, turning each quick study into a study of light and atmosphere. The work was later accepted into the nation’s collection as part of the Turner Bequest in 1856, ensuring that this fleeting moment on paper would be preserved for generations.
See it in person
Sailing Boat; River Scenery; Reclining Female Nude 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.
