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Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British, Ships in a Breeze, 1808
- Title:
- Ships in a Breeze
- Additional Title(s):
- The Egremont Sea-piece
- Part Of:
- Date:
- 1808
- Materials & Techniques:
- Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; first published state on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 11 1/2 × 16 3/4 inches (29.2 × 42.5 cm), Plate: 8 1/8 × 11 3/8 inches (20.6 × 28.9 cm), Image: 7 1/8 × 10 1/8 inches (18.1 × 25.7 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed on verso in graphite, upper left: "10/1"; lower left: "1st State"
Collector’s mark: Earl George Cathcart (Lugt 483)
Lettered above image: "M"; below image: "Drawn & Etchd by J.M.W.Turner Esqr. R.A.P.P. | Engraved by Chas. Turner | In the possession of the Earl of Egremont 6 by 5 | London, Published Feby. 20, 1808 by C. Turner No.50 Warren Street Fitzroy Square"
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1977.14.8108
- Classification:
- Prints
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- clouds | sailboats | sea | waves (natural events) | wind
- Access:
- On view
- Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26131
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
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)
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]
Ian Warrell, Turner, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, pp. 18, 46, 52-53, 116, pl. 17, NJ18 .T85 W37 2025 (YCBA) [YCBA]
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