Young Anglers, part VII from "Liber Studiorum"

Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
Engraver Robert Dunkarton British
Publisher Joseph Mallord William Turner British

Not on view

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 Dunkerton here added mezzotint to describe boys gathered near a pond, likely in Marylebone Fields (later developed into Regent's Park). One holds a fishing rod, another a watering can, and a third examines a bottle. Coats and hats are piled at left and minnows scattered on the ground as another boy fishes near a large house. The letter "P" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Pastoral landscape and, by representing a still rural corner of London, the artist comments on London's rapid urbanization.

Young Anglers, part VII from "Liber Studiorum", Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London), Etching and mezzotint; first state of three

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