Explorations in the footsteps of Turner, Cotman, Ruskin and others with Professor David Hill
This is the third article in an occasional series exploring Normandy subjects in the Cotman collection at Leeds Art Gallery. In September 2016 I spent the month travelling through Normandy and visited all the sites represented at Leeds. Cotman’s port of landing on his first visit to Normandy in 1817 was Dieppe. In the first … Continue reading In Cotman’s Footsteps through Normandy: #3 Arques la Bataille, near Dieppe
This is the second of an occasional series of articles that I will post as I work through Cotman’s Normandy subjects at Leeds Art Gallery. In September 2016 I had the opportunity to spend the month travelling through Normandy and visited the sites of all of the subjects represented at Leeds. Dieppe was his port … Continue reading In Cotman’s Footsteps through Normandy: #2 Dieppe Castle and Harbour
This is the first of an occasional series of articles that I will post as I work through Cotman’s Normandy subjects at Leeds Art Gallery. I am now in the latter stages of cataloguing all of the eight hundred (or more) works in the collection. In September 2016 I had the opportunity to spend the … Continue reading In Cotman’s Footsteps through Normandy: #1 Dieppe, East End of the Church of St Jacques
SublimeSites.co has been silent for the past few months, but I have not been idle, nor laid low. Some readers even emailed to enquire after my possible demise. I cannot overstate how grateful I am for your concern. The less dramatic truth is that SublimeSites activities have been pushed to one side by my ongoing … Continue reading Sublime slumbers
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
This article is prompted by a watercolour that Turner made on his tour to the Alps in 1836. That tour was the subject of the exhibition Turner, Mont Blanc and the Val d’Aosta held at the Archaeological Museum in Aosta in 2000. At that time I identified its subject as the French town of Sallanches, … Continue reading Turner at Sallanches, 1836
This article is the third to explore Turner’s Sisteron subjects in the light of my recent visit to the site. Here I focus on a watercolour in the collection of the Museum of Rhode Island School of Design that records the view of the Pont du Buech from the west. The bridge spans the river … Continue reading Turner at Sisteron: The Pont du Buech, looking west
This article extends the exploration of Turner’s Sisteron subjects in the light of a recent visit 12-14 April. In particular I focus on a watercolour of Sisteron from the North-West that was sold at Christie’s, New York, on 5 November 2013. This was the occasion of my earlier article ‘Moonlight and its implications: Turner at … Continue reading Turner at Sisteron: Continued Observations
This article furthers the discussion begun in the article ‘Moonlight and its Implications: Turner at Sisteron’, posted on 8 November 2013. This follows a visit to the site on 12-14 April to verify the phenomenon depicted in a Turner watercolour of 'Sisteron from the North-West'. The effect in this watercolour is that of the setting … Continue reading Turner at Sisteron: Further Observations
On 5 November 2013 a Turner watercolour of Sisteron sold for $149,000 at Christie’s in New York. It was catalogued as Sisteron from the North-West, with a Low Sun. The viewpoint is perfectly identified and the low sun seems self-evident (follow the link below to Christie’s website for a fully zoomable image), but I want … Continue reading Moonlight and its implications: Turner at Sisteron
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