AFTER SIR JOHN GILBERT R.A. (1817-1897). Portrait of the art...

Hammer

£400

AFTER SIR JOHN GILBERT R.A. (1817-1897). Portrait of the artist J.M.W. Turner, with inscription 'J.M. Turner, R.A. The only true likeness sketched by Gilbert', 8 1/2 x 7in. A number of variants of this portrait subject are known. The prototype was a 'hurried' pencil sketch drawn by Gilbert in 1837, when as a young man he saw Turner working nearby on a painting at the British Institution. Gilbert's drawing was later engraved by W.J. Linton, and that woodcut became the basis for a number of copies of the same subject.