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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Hereford Court Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Moel Hebog from Beddgelert 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Moel Hebog from Beddgelert’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 71 Recto:
?Moel Hebog from Beddgelert 1798
D01337
Turner Bequest XXXVIII 83
Watercolour with stopping- and scraping-out, 229 x 332 mm
Blind-stamped bottom centre with Turner Bequest monogram
Stamped in black ‘XXXVIII 83’ bottom left, descending vertically
The boldly isolated pyramidal silhouette of this splendidly sombre mountain mass is reminiscent of Moel Hebog, as seen from Beddgellert, which lies at its foot to the east. That seems the most likely identification of the subject. As a study of a mountainside in deep shadow, it can be compared with the two large finished watercolours of Cader Idris (currently untraced).1 See also two watercolour studies in the Academical sketchbook (Tate D01873, D01875; Turner Bequest XLIII 48a, 49a), and compare the drawing on folio 63 recto (D01352; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 98) in the present book.
It is possible that the view is of Cader from Dinas Mawddwy, a town to the east of the mountain which was the final point of a detour from Turner’s main route north. Like the moonlight scene at Beddgelert, folio 64 recto (D01346; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 92), the page is an example of Turner extending the technical range of watercolour as a medium for recording things seen on tour, in an attempt to capture the mood as well as the appearance of the scene.
1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.328 nos.259, reproduced, 260.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘?Moel Hebog from Beddgelert 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-moel-hebog-from-beddgelert-r1173211, accessed 25 April 2024.