River Wye (Liber Studiorum, part X, plate 48)
Medium
Etching and mezzotint; fifth state of five
Dimensions
plate: 7 1/4 x 10 9/16 in. (18.4 x 26.8 cm) sheet: 8 3/8 x 11 1/2 in. (21.3 x 29.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1951
Accession Number
51.648.53
Tags
Art Historical Context
**River Wye (Liber Studum, part X, 48)** Created by the visionary British artist J.M.W. Turner in 1812, *River Wye* is a standout plate from his ambitious *Liber Studiorum* (1807–1819), a collection of 71 landscape prints that showcased Turner's mastery across genres like pastoral and mountainous scenes. Inspired by Claude Lorrain's *Liber Veritatis*, Turner's "Book of Studies" blended his own watercolor designs with innovative printmaking to democratize his atmospheric visions for a wider audience. This fifth and final state captures the serene River Wye along the Wales-England border, evoki...
About the Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner|William T. Annis|Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1775–1851
Joseph Mallord William Turner, born on 23 April 1775 in London's Covent Garden to barber William Turner and Mary Marshall, emerged as a child prodigy amid personal hardships. His mother suffered mental illness and died in Bethlem Hospital in 1804, while his father supported his early sketches by displaying them in his shop. Around age 10, Turner stayed with his uncle Joseph Mallord William Marshal...