Update: Turner and Heidelberg – a newly identified source for the Tate painting

Since completing part #6 of the SublimeSites.co series on Turner and Heidelberg, I have discovered a potential literary source for the subject of the Tate oil painting. In part #6, I suggested that the composition of the painting was based on a sketch in the 'Mountain Fortress' sketchbook in the Turner Bequest at the Tate … Continue reading Update: Turner and Heidelberg – a newly identified source for the Tate painting →

Update: Cotman and Point Lorenzo, Madeira

On 22 February 2015 I posted a SublimeSites.co article on ‘John Sell Cotman: Point Lorenzo, Madeira, 1828’. This followed a trip, earlier that month to see the site of a Cotman watercolour at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Cotman never went to Madeira, but based his composition on a drawing by a friend and Patron, … Continue reading Update: Cotman and Point Lorenzo, Madeira →

Turner and Scotland #1: Ben Arthur from near Ardgartan

Not all my Turnering goes according to plan. This is an interim report on a new identification for a watercolour at the British Museum. Currently called ‘Mountain study, a view in north Wales (?)’ this can now be confirmed instead as a view of Ben Arthur from the entrance to Glen Croe above Ardgartan. On … Continue reading Turner and Scotland #1: Ben Arthur from near Ardgartan →

Kirkby Lonsdale: What Ruskin really said.

This article visits the famous ‘Ruskin’s View’ at Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria. It is so christened after a particularly purple description of the scenery by Ruskin. Hardly anyone, however, has ever considered his commentary in full. In what follows we will retrace Ruskin’s footsteps and discover that he said rather more than is generally admitted. … Continue reading Kirkby Lonsdale: What Ruskin really said. →

Cotman and Turner’s ‘Van Tromp’: A newly identified study of 1832

On 10 May 2015, I posted a short article identifying one of the Cotman sketches at Leeds Art Gallery as a memorandum of a painting by Turner, ‘Helvoetsluis’, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832. It was touching to discover some new documentation of Cotman’s admiration for Turner. Then, just recently, a group of seven … Continue reading Cotman and Turner’s ‘Van Tromp’: A newly identified study of 1832 →

News: Ruskin’s watercolour of Bellinzona

On 29 September 2014 Sublimesites.co published an article, ‘In Ruskin’s Footsteps at Bellinzona’. This focused on an important watercolour that Ruskin painted there in 1868, and for the first time identified his exact viewpoint. I notice with some interest therefore that Lowell Libson is exhibiting Bellinzona at the Maastrich Art Fair 11-20 March 2016. Alongside … Continue reading News: Ruskin’s watercolour of Bellinzona →

In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 6

REVISED 14 April 2016 (DH) towards end, to discuss recently discovered poetic source This post concludes the essay begun on 19 October 2015 and continued on 18, 20 and 23 November 2015 and 17 January 2016. In part #1, I followed in the footsteps of Turner’s comprehensive exploration of Heidelberg in 1833. In part #2, … Continue reading In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 6 →

In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 5

This post continues the series begun on 19 October 2015 and continued on 18, 20 and 23 November 2015. In part #1, I followed in the footsteps of Turner’s comprehensive exploration of Heidelberg in 1833. In part #2, I looked at a major finished watercolour that he developed in the early 1840s, and a return … Continue reading In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 5 →

In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 4

This post continues the essay begun on 19 October 2015 and continued on 18 November 2015, and 20 November 2015. In part #1, I followed in the footsteps of Turner’s comprehensive exploration of Heidelberg in 1833. In part #2, I looked at a major finished watercolour that he developed in the early 1840s, and a … Continue reading In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 4 →

In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 3

This post continues the essay begun on 19 October 2015 and continued on 18 November 2015. In part #1, I followed in the footsteps of Turner’s comprehensive exploration of Heidelberg in 1833. In part #2, I looked at a major finished watercolour that he developed in the early 1840s, and a return visit to Heidelberg … Continue reading In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 3 →