Explorations in the footsteps of Turner, Cotman, Ruskin and others with Professor David Hill
Readers might have wondered at the recent inactivity of Sublimesites.co. Old friends will know such lapses are not infrequent. But I have not been idle. In fact I have been rummaging in a box of transparencies dating back to 1983, and encountering my former self. The occasion of all this was a Turner watercolour that … Continue reading Rediscovering Kilnsey
Watercolour, 11 3/4 x 18 1/2 ins Private Collection Turner catalogues: not in Wilton; tdb1901 This is a good-sized watercolour study of a light-suffused river valley landscape. A long, many-arched bridge stretches across the composition in the mid-distance whilst a shallow river flows away in the lower right corner. Blue hills close the distance. Bridge … Continue reading Colour beginning: Kilnsey Crag and Conistone Bridge, Upper Wharfedale Yorkshire. Called ‘A Bridge in Mist’; ‘White Bridge’, c.1825
In 1831-32 Turner made a series of twenty-four watercolours for the Edinburgh publisher Robert Cadell. These were to serve as frontispieces and title-page vignettes for a new twelve-volume edition of the poetry of Sir Walter Scott. This was designed to continue and be uniform with, the 12mo popular edition of Scott’s complete works that Cadell … Continue reading Introduction: The Poetical works of Sir Walter Scott
In 1833 and 1834 Turner made a series of forty watercolours for the Edinburgh publisher Robert Cadell, to serve as frontispieces and title-page vignettes for a twenty-eight volume series of Scott’s Miscellaneous prose. This was designed to be complete and be uniform with, the 12mo popular edition of Scott’s complete works that Cadell had begun … Continue reading Introduction: The Prose works of Sir Walter Scott
Watercolour vignette, 135 x 105 mm Private Collection Notes: This is a small, highly-wrought studio watercolour vignette, of a busy street scene with a cathedral in the background bathed in light, whilst a stage coach stops in the centre of a street amidst a throng of figures. DH scan from Sotheby's 1983 This is the … Continue reading Abbeville: St Vulfran from the Market Square, c.1834
Watercolour vignette on paper, image 5 1/4 x 4 ins, in border 7 x 4 5/8 ins on sheet 8 3/4 x 7 1/2 ins, 223 x 191 mm Inscribed by Turner in watercolour, above subject; 'Border Minstrelsey/ Vol, ' and below; 'Smailholme Tower' Private Collection Turner catalogues: Wilton 1071; tdb1192 Scanned by DH from … Continue reading Smailholm Tower, Roxburghshire [Smailholme, Smallholm], c.1832
Watercolour on paper, 101 x 152 mm Untraced Turner Catalogues: Wilton 1090; tdb1210 Photograph by David Hill This is a small, highly-finished watercolour showing a lake and mountain. A string of cattle stands in the water in the foreground and the bank recedes at the right to the distant mountain. The watercolour is currently untraced … Continue reading Skiddaw from the southern end of Derwentwater, c.1832
Watercolour vignette on paper, 280 x 215 mm Private Collection Turner Catalogues: Wilton 1091; tdb1211 Image courtesy of Bonham's This is a small, highly-finished watercolour vignette showing a tree-circled clearing with, in the centre, a monolith with a tree apparently growing from it. In the distance left is the misty silhouette of a castle on … Continue reading Mayburgh, with Penrith Castle and Beacon [sometimes Mayborough or King Arthur’s Round Table], c.1832
Watercolour vignette on paper, 87 x 152 mm Private Collection Turner Catalogues: Wilton 1092; tdb1212 Image courtesy of Christie's This is a small, highly-finished watercolour showing an extensive landscape with a castle on a sunlit eminence centre left, overlooking a broad river and many-arched bridge to the right. A town with a tower and spire … Continue reading Berwick upon Tweed, c.1832
Watercolour vignette on paper, 115 x 147 mm Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott Turner Catalogues: Wilton 1093; tdb1213 Image courtesy of the Art Fund This is a small, highly-finished watercolour vignette showing an extensive baronial house overlooking a river and backed by rounded hills. The time of day is evening and a crescent … Continue reading Abbotsford, c.1832
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