Liber Studiorum
The frontispiece
AuthorJ. M. W. Turner[1]
Publication date
1807
Little Devil's Bridge over the Russ, above Altdorft, Swiss-d, from Liber Studiorum, part IV. Impression in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Liber Studiorum (Latin: Book of Studies[2]) is a collection of prints by J. M. W. Turner. The collected works included seventy-one prints that he worked on and printed from 1807 to 1819.[3] For the production of the prints, Turner created the etchings for the prints, which were worked in mezzotint by his collaborating engravers.[4]

The original models for the printmakers to follow were mainly in sepia watercolour, sometimes with elements in pencil and other media, and are now in Tate Britain as part of the Turner Bequest. Altogether there are over 100 paintings relating to the series, included some not published in the end. There are also numerous less formal drawings and watercolour studies in the Tate of the same subjects made by Turner on the spot or later.[5][6]

Subsequent to the initial printing, the late 19th, early 20th century artist Frank Short made successful reprintings with the plates, though many of the finer details had worn down.[6]

Near Blair Athol, Scotland, from Liber Studiorum, part VI. This copy is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Liber Studiorum was an expression of his intentions for landscape art. Loosely based on Claude Lorrain's Liber Veritatis (Book of Truth);[6] the plates were meant to be widely disseminated, and categorised the genre into six types: Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, Historical, Architectural, and Elevated or Epic Pastoral.[7] A museum is devoted to Turner's work in print form, the Turner Museum in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1974 by Douglass Montrose-Graem to house his collection of Turner prints.[8] Other print rooms with full sets include Tate Britain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[9] and the Art Institute of Chicago.[6]

References

  1. ^ Oscar Wilde (13 November 2018). In Praise of Disobedience: The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Other Works. Verso Books. pp. 163–. ISBN 978-1-78873-035-8.
  2. ^ James Hamilton (7 August 2014). A Strange Business: Making Art and Money in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Atlantic Books. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-1-78239-431-0.
  3. ^ Gilcrease Journal. Thomas Gilcrease Museum Association. 1997.
  4. ^ Smiles, Sam (2006). The Turner Book. London: Tate Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 9781854375728.
  5. ^ Tate Britain, "Liber Studiorum: Drawings and Related Works c.1806–24". Includes a list with links to their individual web pages.
  6. ^ a b c d "Turner's Liber Studiorum". Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago (published 1911). 5 (Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jul., 1911)): 5–7. July 1911. doi:10.2307/4116953. JSTOR 4116953.
  7. ^ Imms, Matthew (December 2012). Brown, David Blayney (ed.). "J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours". Tate Gallery. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  8. ^ "The Turner Museum". The Turner Museum and Thomas Moran Galleries. Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Liber Studiorum". The Collection Online. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved December 30, 2015.

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