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Home » Arts and Culture » Fine art and sculpture » Turner, J. M. W. (1775-1851)

Displaying results 1 to 6 out of 6

Page 1

  • This image of Llandeilo was made during, or directly after, Turner's 1795 tour through South Wales and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796. As a sumptuous evocation of evening light it represents the climax of the 1795 tour. Its depiction of the castle (shown much closer than in reality) against a brilliant low sun anticipates Turner's later pre-occupation with light effects. The rich colouring probably relates to his experiments in oil, and foreshadows by two or three years the palette of his full scale 'sublime' subjects. The recent conservation of this watercolour has uncovered the existence of a second image, pasted face-up, to its reverse. Text by: Department of Art, National Museums & Galleries of Wales
'Llandilo Bridge and Dynevor Castle' by J. M. W. Turner, c. 1796 (watercolour)
  • This watercolour was recently discovered pasted to the reverse of the finished version of the same subject. It duplicates almost exactly the upper image except that it is unfinished and executed in a broad technique using extremely deep colours which are unfaded as they have never been exposed to light. It is unclear why Turner stuck one image onto another. He may have been experimenting with luminosity and intended that the deep colours of the bottom image should be visible through the paper, adding a richness of tone and colour with a depth of effect similar to that of oil painting. The paper used for both the finished work and this lower sheet appears to be the same, this sheet comprising two pieces of paper stuck together. Although this use of a 'double image' is apparently unique amongst Turner's work it does relate to other works, also dating from the 1790s, such as his two experiments with transparencies. In these the back of the sheet is treated with paint or resins, so that the image on the front can be transformed by shining a light behind it. Text by: Department of Art, National Museums & Galleries of Wales.
'Study for Llandilo Bridge and Dynevor Castle' by J. M. W. Turner, latter half of 18th century (watercolour)
  • Flint was the first castle to be built during Edward I's military campaign in Wales of 1276-77. Surrounded by the waters of the Dee estuary, it was built to a four-square plan, but with the unusual feature that one of its round corner towers was larger than the others and isolated from the rest of the castle, forming a separate keep. Turner visited Flint on all three of his tours through North Wales, in 1794, 1798 and 1799. Flint Castle was included in one of the first plates issued of Turner's Liber 'Studiorum' in June 1807, although mysteriously the image is entitled 'Landscape on the French Coast'. This watercolour was not made until 1834 and was one of three paintings done of the site for his extended series of engravings 'Picturesque Views in England and Wales'. (A smaller study is in a private collection in Tokyo, Japan). The painting was acquired by John Ruskin who later wrote of it:
'Flint Castle' by J. M. W. Turner, 1835 (watercolour)
  • This dramatic view across the south transept of Ewenny Priory is based upon notes and a pencil sketch which Turner made during his 1795 tour of South Wales. This highly finished exhibition watercolour was shown at the Royal Academy in 1797 where it moved a reviewer to write:
'Transept of Ewenny Priory, Glamorganshire' by J. M. W. Turner, c. 1797 (watercolour)
  • Rhayader, depicted here, is a small town on the upper reaches of the Wye, north of Builth Wells.The signature in the bottom left corner is certainly a later addition and therefore spurious. If the work is by Turner, stylistically it predates his entry into the Academy. The drawing has been attributed to Edward Dayes (1763-1804). From c. 1790 he made annual sketching trips in Wales and England. He was a teacher of Girtin and in the 1790s he adopted a bolder more atmospheric approach, breaking with a manner which involved careful outline drawing followed by washes in blue and grey and finally a warm colour over the previous washes, taking care to avoid 'introducing the colour of an object in its shade', a method he described in his 'Instructions for Drawing and Colouring Landscapes' published in 1805. His freer manner still retained traditional picturesque composition, juxtaposing structures with broken natural forms. This drawing could be linked therefore to one of his Welsh tours of the early 1790s. The attribution of this drawing is made more complex by Turner and Girtin's paid work from Dr Thomas Monro to copy works by Hearne, Dayes and John Robert Cozens in Monro's collection. These are generally blue and grey wash works. Finberg expressed grave doubts about 'the 400 blue and grey drawings in the Turner Bequest...' Turner is known to have purchased several such watercolours at Dr Monro's sale in 1833, presumably to guard against them entering the market as his own work. His executors however ironically catalogued them as autograph. Turner is documented as having visited Rhayader on his first tour of Wales in 1792. A watercolour in the Turner Bequest adopts a similar compositional vantage point to this work, indicating a close relationship between these two watercolour drawings. The Turner Bequest work is seen by Andrew Wilton as dateable to 1796-7 not, however, related to the specifics of Turner's 1795 tour (indeed Turner remained in South and West Wales in 1795) but more a watercolour forming a stylistic exercise in Wilton's words reflecting 'the brighter more lyrical palette ... adopted in about 1796 for many of (Turner's) pastoral and picturesque subjects'. Perhaps a plausible suggestion for this present watercolour drawing is that it is a 'Monro School' work, possibly by Turner, after Dayes! Text by: Department of Art, National Museums & Galleries of Wales.
'Rhaido Gwy bridge' possibly by J. M. W. Turner (watercolour)
  • Here is picture number 28 from Turner's volume 'Liber Studiorum' which was published in 1807 as a series of engravings. His intention was to publish 100 pictures, but only 70 appeared, in 14 parts. Each part, containing four prints, was published up until 1819 when he gave up the idea, probably due to loss of interest. Turner produced sepia drawings for most of the pictures, before etching them onto copper. The engravings would be mesotinted by a member of a team of engravers under instruction from Turner. The picture seen here, however, is a rare example which was engraved by Turner himself. He used a series of letters to sort the different prints. The meaning of the letters 'E.P.' at the top of the picture is 'Epic' or 'Elevated Pastoral'.
'Junction of the Severn and Wye' by J. M. W. Turner, c. 1798 (engraving)