Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
A Lady in a Van Dyck Costume
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
actions: postures and motions
adults
people
sitting
woman
<p>Another example of the mature Turner's investigations of the old masters, this quite finished study is in the manner of female portraits by Van Dyck. It was most probably inspired by pictures he saw in the collection at Petworth, but might also have alluded to a contemporary fashion for being portrayed in Van Dyck costume, or in the style of portraits by Rubens. This kind of looking back to the past was pronounced in British painting in the 1830s, not least in portraiture.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
A Lady in a Van Dyck Costume
support: 1213 × 911 mm
frame: 1510 × 1240 × 125 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<p>Another example of the mature Turner's investigations of the old masters, this quite finished study is in the manner of female <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> by Van Dyck. It was most probably inspired by pictures he saw in the collection at Petworth, but might also have alluded to a contemporary fashion for being portrayed in Van Dyck costume, or in the style of portraits by Rubens. This kind of looking back to the past was pronounced in British <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> in the 1830s, not least in portraiture.</p>
Display caption
2004-09-02T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p>[from]<b> Nos. 444–9: Figure Subjects and Interiors associated with Petworth and East Cowes Castle, <i>c.</i> 1830–7</b></p>
<p>THESE works, none of which were exhibited by Turner, nor therefore given titles by him, have all been associated with Petworth since they were inventoried in the twentieth century, partly because of their similarity to the Petworth interiors with figures painted in body colour on blue <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/paper" title="Glossary definition for 'Paper'"><span>paper</span></a> (CCXLIV) and partly because they relate to such exhibited pictures associated with Petworth as <i>Jessica, Lord Percy under Attainder</i> and <i>Watteau Study</i>
(Nos. 333 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-jessica-t03887" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T03887</span></a>], 338 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-lucy-countess-of-carlisle-and-dorothy-percys-visit-to-their-father-lord-percy-when-n00515" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00515</span></a>] and 340 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-watteau-study-by-fresnoys-rules-n00514" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00514</span></a>]). It has recently been discovered by Patrick Youngblood, however, that at least one of these <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>paintings</span></a>, that formerly known as <i>Music Party, Petworth</i> (No. 447 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-music-party-east-cowes-castle-n03550" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N03550</span></a>]), shows an interior at East Cowes Castle. In fact the origins of this picture are even more complex; see the entry for this work. It is probably a mistake to attach these works too closely to any specific location, though Turner's imagination was clearly stimulated by the social life at these two houses in which, through his friendship with Lord Egremont and John Nash, he was particularly at home.</p>
<p>The dating of these works also depends on that of the paintings mentioned above, which were exhibited in 1830 and 1831, together with further scenes of figures in interiors such as <i>Pilate washing his Hands</i>, also exhibited in 1830 (No. 332 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-pilate-washing-his-hands-n00510" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00510</span></a>]), and <i>Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego</i>, exhibited in 1832 (No. 346 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shadrach-meshach-and-abednego-in-the-burning-fiery-furnace-n00517" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00517</span></a>]). <i>Rembrandt's Daughter</i>, exhibited in 1827 (No. 238), and <i>Boccaccio</i>, exhibited the following year and also associated with East Cowes Castle (No. 244 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-boccaccio-relating-the-tale-of-the-bird-cage-n00507" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00507</span></a>]), are perhaps slightly less advanced in style than these unfinished interiors which seem to form a series painted over a number of years up to 1837, the year that Lord Egremont's death bought an end to Turner's association with Petworth (see under No. 449 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-interior-of-a-great-house-the-drawing-room-east-cowes-castle-n01988" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01988</span></a>]). All, save No. 444 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-a-lady-in-a-van-dyck-costume-n05511" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05511</span></a>], reflect a renewed interest in the work of Rembrandt, seen with Turner's own emphasis on light and colour.</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, pp. 44–5; Gowing 1966, p. 36; Wilton 1979, pp. 208–10; Youngblood 1983, pp. 16–17.</p>
<p><b>444. </b>[<span>N05511</span>]<b> A Lady in Van Dyck Costume</b> <i>c</i>. 1830–35</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (5511)</p>
<p>Canvas, 47 3/4 × 35 7/8 (121 × 91)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1947.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Arts Council tour 1952 (15); Antwerp 1953–4.</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Davies 1946, p. 163; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, p. 45; Gage 1969, p. 244 n. 109; Reynolds 1969, pp. 137–8.</p>
<p>The three-quarter-length format, the figure's pose, and particularly the placing of her arms, the richly-coloured loose sleeves and the opening onto a view of a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> are all based on <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> by or attributed to Van Dyck at Petworth, and this picture probably dates from about the same time as <i>Lord Percy under Attainder</i> (No. 338 [<span>N00515</span>]), exhibited in 1831, which is based on the same portraits. It also forms one of the series of paintings of the figure on much the same relatively large scale that also includes the <i>Reclining Venus</i> painted at Rome in 1828 (No. 296 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-reclining-venus-n05498" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05498</span></a>]). <i>Jessica</i>, R.A. 1830 No. 333), and <i>Two Women with a Letter</i> of <i>c</i>. 1835 (No. 448 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-two-women-with-a-letter-n05501" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05501</span></a>]).</p>
<p>An area along the bottom, reaching up almost to the bottom of the sleeve, was repainted at the National Gallery in 1944 to replace losses.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-07T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults people sitting woman