THE MOST ELEGANT SEARCH ON THE PLANET
The Turner's Registry of Missing Turners
Registration # 2
Title: Mildmay Seapiece
Title- formal - Fishermen coming ashore at Sun Set, previous to a Gale, also Autumnal sunset
Medium: oil on canvas
Date: (date first exhibited) 1797 at the Royal Academy, London
Size: 91.5 x 122 (36 x 48)
Listing: B&J 3 - "present whereabouts unknown".
Comment - Painted for Sir Henry St. John Mildmay (1746-1808), hence the 'nickname'. In 1812 when it appeared as an engraving
in Turner's now famous Liber Studiorum series, it was still in the family, owned by his heir with an identical name: Sir Henry St. John
Mildmay (1787--1848), fourth baronet. The vanishing act probably occurred sometimes in the middle of the 19th century. Nothing is
known about its subsequent history.
Clue #1 - Contemporary descriptions. According to B&J, several contemporary reviews were enthusiastic about the painting. One
account refers to Turner's ability to give "transparency and modulation to the sea". Another describes "fishing vessels coming in,
with a heavy swell, in apprehension of tempest gathering in the distance, and casting, as it advances, a night of shade, while a
parting glow is spread with fine effect upon the shore."
Clue #2 - Turner's engravings based on the painting. Turner's own graphic versions of his own painting appeared on February 11,
1812 in London. The etching, executed by Turner himself, gives us but a faint indication of the first full blossoming of a genius -
Turner was just 21 when he created the Mildmay Seapiece. Shown here is one of the 11 etchings found in Turner's studio i.e.: from
his own collection. Also reproduced is an early impression of the engraving on copper giving us a fuller idea what the painting must
look like. This is our best clue at the present.
The Mildmay Seapiece - the etching
The Mildmay Seapiece - the engraving
The Grandest TreasureHunt in the World
please click for registration No3 HERE !
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