J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales and Isle of Wight 1795-1800 > Smaller South Wales Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?The Brecon Beacons 1795

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?The Brecon Beacons’ 1795
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 23 Recto:
?The Brecon Beacons 1795
D00484
Turner Bequest XXV 23
Pencil and wash on white wove paper, 130 x 205 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘23’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XXV 23’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This seems to be a rare drawing (elaborated with pinkish-grey wash) made on the return leg of Turner’s journey across south Wales. The uncertainty of identification of the subject on folio 24 recto (D00485), which may well be a Kentish subject rather than a town in Pembrokeshire, may argue for the present leaf recording the scenery of the Towy valley or, more plausibly, the Brecon Beacons, through which he passed on his way east.
The itinerary transcribed into the South Wales sketchbook mentions ‘To Brecknock 20 Miles. ... fine Mountainous View along this Road. Ascend the highest Mountain | calld the Van of the Beacon’ (Tate D40555; Turner Bequest XXVI [verso of first flyleaf]). It seems that Turner did not have time to make the recommended ascent, and had to content himself with this rapid sketch.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘?The Brecon Beacons 1795 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-brecon-beacons-r1140803, accessed 24 April 2024.