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 Town
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
adults
architecture
figure
landscape
people
places
river
River Wye
rocky
townscape, distant
townscapes / man-made features
UK countries and regions
UK natural features
Wales
water: inland
wooded
<p>Turner painted this little picture as an exercise in the manner of Richard Wilson. It was probably not intended for sale. Besides Italian and historic landscapes, Wilson had excelled in unassuming studies of pure landscape, painted broadly in subdued colours. Turner singled him out as an artist whose style was especially suited to the British landscape and character. This view may be on the River Wye or in Wilson's native Wales. Turner visited sites associated with Wilson on a Welsh tour in 1798 and later reminisced about 'the days of my youth when I was in search of Richard Wilson's birthplace'.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
18 June 2001 – 14 July 2002
2002-07-14
18 June 2001 – 14 July 2002
2002-07-14
2001-06-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-06-18
From Studio to Gallery: Sketches in the Turner Bequest
Collection based display
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
2023-10-28
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich, Germany)
2023-10-28
Turner at Lenbachhaus Munich
Loan-out
View of a Town
support: 241 × 324 mm
frame: 410 × 495 × 70 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>Turner painted this little picture as an exercise  in the manner of Richard Wilson. It was probably not intended for sale. Besides Italian and historic <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>landscapes</span></a>, Wilson had excelled in unassuming studies of pure landscape, painted broadly  in subdued colours. Turner singled him out  as an artist whose style was especially suited  to the British landscape and character. This view may be on the River Wye or in Wilson's native Wales. Turner visited sites associated with Wilson on a Welsh tour in 1798 and later reminisced  about 'the days of my youth when I was in search  of Richard Wilson's birthplace'.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-31T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>31</b>. [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-view-of-a-town-n00475" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00475</span></a>] <b>View of a Town</b> <i>c.</i> 1798
<br/>
<br/>The Tate Gallery, London (475)
<br/>Canvas, 9 1/2 × 12 3/4 (24 × 32·5)
<br/><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (97, ‘Town View’ 1'1" × 4'3 1/2); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1910.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> <i>Richard Wilson</i> Tate Gallery, 1925 (68); Tate Gallery 1931 (3); Birmingham (171) and Tate Gallery (164) 1948–9; Australian tour 1960 (1); R.A. 1974–5 (34).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Armstrong 1902, p. 233; MacColl 1920, p. 5; Davies 1946, p. 187.</p>
<p></p>
<p>A small but finished picture, close to Wilson in style and technique, particularly the large rock in the foreground, and perhaps derived, like No. 29 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-view-in-wales-mountain-scene-with-village-and-castle-evening-n00466" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00466</span></a>], from one of Turner's Welsh tours. The dimensions given in the Schedule of 1854 must be an error, as the larger dimension is normally given first regardless of whether it represents height or width.</p>
<p>
<br/><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
2004-07-14T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults architecture figure landscape people places river River Wye rocky townscape, distant townscapes / man-made features UK countries and regions UK natural features Wales water: inland wooded