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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Folkestone 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 13 Recto:
Folkestone 1845
D35374
Turner Bequest CCCLVI 14
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 230 x 328 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘14’ bottom right
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLVI–14’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner appears to have taken this drawing close to the peripheral area of a cliff looking inland rather than out towards the sea, providing a different viewpoint of the harbour railway viaduct and coastline beyond. The viaduct is a more muted presence in this work than in previous drawings; its structure rendered smaller and in more subdued tones. The profile of a towered building, perhaps the same one seen in the previous folio (D35373), can be seen atop the headland. To the left of it are two smaller fortifications, perhaps a further Martello tower and a lighthouse-type structure.

Alice Rylance-Watson
February 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘Folkestone 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, June 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-folkestone-r1142152, accessed 25 April 2024.