While the sketches Turner made outdoors record the south of Snowdon, the studio work he produced subsequently focuses on sites of historic and literary resonance which lie adjacent to the mountain and to the north. This move towards high art is most apparent in his depictions of castles, and subjects, exhibited elsewhere in this gallery. In the following four views, however, it is the pictorial potential of natural landscape features which is Turner's primary concern. Forsaking topographical accuracy, these studies are compelling experiments in idealised landscape . They embody Turner's progress beyond the conventions of tightly controlled painting, and transcend Wilson's influence in the production of powerful atmospheric effects.
Gallery label, September 2004
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