Explorations in the footsteps of Turner, Cotman, Ruskin and others with Professor David Hill
Between c.1793 and c.1794 Turner made fifteen watercolours for engraving in 'The Copper-Plate Magazine' published in parts by Harrison & Co of Paternoster Row, London in partnership with the engraver John Walker. Each part consisted of two copper-plate engravings, together with a page of descriptive and historical text. The first part of the project was … Continue reading Introduction: The Copper-Plate Magazine
Pencil and watercolour on paper, 216 x 281 mm, 8 1/2 x 11 ins Inscribed: Lower right, in a distinctive script, 'Turner'. USA, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Sterling and Francine Clark Institute Turner catalogues: Wilton no.87; tdb237 This is a medium-sized studio watercolour depicting two single-masted seagoing cabin vessels moored in the centre foreground, near some trees … Continue reading Rochester, seen across the River Medway, c.1793
This is the second instalment of a new series of articles in which I will revisit each of the 96 sites depicted by J.M.W.Turner in his series of engravings ‘Picturesque View in England and Wales’. These were published over a period of ten years between 1827 and 1837 but represent subjects drawn from his entire … Continue reading England and Wales Revisited: #35 Holy Island, Northumberland
J.T.Willmore after J.M.W.Turner R.A.Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, 1832Etching and engraving, image 164 x 233, on plate 246 x 302, printed in black ink on india paper, 241 x 298, bonded to backing sheet of heavyweight white wove paper, not watermarked 399 x 562 mmInscribed in neat script centred below image, ‘Engrvd by J.T.Willmore from a Drawing … Continue reading England and Wales Revisited: # 34 Alnwick Castle, Northumberland
Lucerne Kunstmuseum, Switzerland Watercolour and gouache, 9 ¾ × 14 ¼ inches · 247 × 362 mm Turner catalogues: Wilton1472; tdb1577 This is a medium-sized watercolour sketch of broad lake scene, suffused with light and colour, with quays in the foreground, full of suggestions of activity. In the left distance is a rosy-coloured mountain with … Continue reading The Lake of Lucerne and Mont Rigi from the Swan Hotel., Lucerne; Called ‘The Rigi at Sunset’, c.1842
Newcastle, Laing Art Gallery Bodycolour, pencil, watercolour and scratching out on paper support: 349 x 483 mm, 13 3/4 x 19 ins Turner catalogues: Wilton0284; tdb0023 This is a substantial, finished studio watercolour of a rocky coastal scene with waves breaking onshore from the right. In the foreground are rearing, jagged rocks, beyond which a … Continue reading Dunstanburgh Castle from the South, Northumberland [Dunstanborough], c.1798
Manchester City Art Gallery (1917-110) Watercolour, 291 x 419 (sight), 11 x 16 1/2 ins Turner catalogues: Wilton0814; tdb0941 This is a medium-sized, finished studio watercolour of a coastal scene with waves breaking onshore from the sea to the right. In the middle distance is a sunlit castle on a low headland. A large round-towered … Continue reading Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland, c.1828
This article returns to a subject briefly visited in an article of 10 April 2016 in which I discussed a Turner watercolour of Ben Arthur from near Arrochar. I had not time then to investigate the subject in any detail, but finally last week managed to visit the exact spot. Regular readers will know that … Continue reading Turner and Scotland #2: Loch Lomond from Colonel Lascelles’ monument, 1801
Sometimes Sublime Sights appear completely out of the blue. The well-known scholar Timothy Wilcox recently sent me a photograph of the watercolour reproduced below. It forms part of an exceptional private collection which Tim is cataloguing for publication in due course. It appears to have been acquired as a Turner by an ancestor of the … Continue reading A newly-identified Val d’Aosta subject by Turner
2018 brings an especially Sublime sighting. On 30 January, Christie's, New York offers a superb late Turner watercolour of ‘The Lake of Lucerne from Brunnen, with a Steamer’. This is being sold by a private American collector, and was last seen in Britain when it was sold by Christie’s in London in 1976. The sale … Continue reading Turner at Brunnen, Lake Lucerne
Sublime Sites 