'Distant Hills on the Moors near Bowes', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Distant Hills on the Moors near Bowes

From Durham, North Shore, Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLVII

Date 1817

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 116 x 185 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

D12387

Turner Bequest CLVII 52

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Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Durham, North Shore, Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 52 Recto:

Distant Hills on the Moors near Bowes 1817

D12387
Turner Bequest CLVII 52

Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 185 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘B’ to right, ‘cloud’, ‘4’ and ‘4’ across the central band of hills, and ‘towards Bowes’ bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘52’ bottom right (now very faint)
Stamped in black ‘CLVII – 52’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

This is half of a two-page sketch, continuing to the left on folio 51 verso opposite (D12386). The drawing is the last of a sequence of mostly unidentified landscapes running from folio 27 verso (D12355) to folio 33 recto (D12366), with a further two on folio 50 recto (D12384) and folios 51 verso–52 recto (D12386, D12387). As discussed in the entry for folio 27 verso, they are all likely to show scenes on the moors and hills around Bowes, south-west of Barnard Castle.

The present drawing view is inscribed ‘towards Bowes’ on the isolated profiles of hills towards the bottom. The main sketch is a distant range of hills running above the centre for almost the full width of the two pages, with the number ‘4’s possibly indicating gradations of tone in relation to other numbers on the opposite page. Turner also notes ‘cloud’ just above the hills. At the top is a separate skyline, labelled ‘B’, perhaps indicating Bowes.

Verso:

Blank

Matthew Imms
February 2010

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.