Art Institute of Chicago

Junction of the Severn and Wye, from Liber Studiorum, no. 28

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Date

June 1811

Medium

Etching, mezzotint and aquatint in brown on ivory wove paper

Culture

England

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

J. M. W. Turner’s paintings epitomized the sublime, a sense of awe-inspiring beauty beyond simple loveliness. His evocative etching and mezzotint print series, the Liber Studiorum (1807–19), was just as influential. Printed in sepia lines and tonal areas evoking Old Master drawing ink and modeling, Turner’s series of 71 prints is an extended ode to the landscape. The letters above each work designate the subject type, including architectural (A), pastoral (P) and elevated pastoral (EP), and historical (H), marine (M), and mountainous (M). Turner’s exhaustive categories inspired John Constable to produce a further-specialized mezzotint series of 22 English landscapes.

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