River Wye (Liber Studiorum, part X, plate 48)

Joseph Mallord William Turner|William T. Annis|Joseph Mallord William Turner

May 23, 1812 · Etching and mezzotint; first state of five · Drawings and Prints

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 Annis here added mezzotint to evoke a peaceful evening on the River Wye with the sun settng behind Chepstow Castle (the latter also appears in "The Junction of the Severn and the Wye," no. 28 in the Liber). It is as though the artist decided to produce a perfect example of the Picturesque, a kind of landscape much debated in eighteenth-century Britain. Characteristic elements include the pleasing irregularity of the ruined castle over the looping river, and smudge of smoke produced by a charcoal burner, with placid cows and male swimmers adding notes of local interest. The letters "EP" in the upper margin likely stand for Elevated Pastoral and were applied by Turner to landscapes within the set that echo the Arcadian sensibility of Claude.

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner|William T. Annis|Joseph Mallord William Turner

Date

May 23, 1812

Medium

Etching and mezzotint; first state of five

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928