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 Conwy: The Castle from the North-West 1798

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Conwy: The Castle from the North-West’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 80 Recto:
Conwy: The Castle from the North-West 1798
D01303
Turner Bequest XXXVIII 50
Pencil on white wove paper, 229 x 332 mm
Watermark ‘1794 | J Whatman’
Blind-stamped lower centre with Turner Bequest monogram
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘50’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXVIII 50’ bottom left, descending vertically
This is one of a series of drawings of Conwy in this book; the others are on folios 81–86 (D01304–D01306, D01336, D01307, D01308; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 50a, 51, 52, 82, 53, 54). Here the viewpoint is the town foreshore, looking south-east past the castle down the estuary of the Conwy. The town and castle at Conwy are among the best preserved medieval ensembles in Britain, with Edward I’s huge fortress the focus of a tightly knit community enclosed within high walls, still almost completely intact. Turner had already made a drawing looking along the length of the walls towards the castle, possibly copying a watercolour by Edward Dayes (1763–1804) at the behest of his early patron Dr Monro; see Tate D36355 (Turner Bequest CCCLXXI M).
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Conwy: The Castle from the North-West 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-conwy-the-castle-from-the-north-west-r1173220, accessed 23 April 2024.