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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Isle of Wight 1827 > The House and Grounds at East Cowes ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner East Cowes Castle from the East 1827

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘East Cowes Castle from the East’ 1827
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
East Cowes Castle from the East 1827
D20827
Turner Bequest CCXXVII a 24
Chalk and ink on blue wove paper, 140 x 195 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘24’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXXVII(a) 24’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
East Cowes Castle is seen here looking westwards to what was perhaps its least prominent aspect, with the square tower at the eastern corner of the main block partly eclipsing the taller tower above the ‘octagon room’ beyond to the left. Below to the right, the main entrance porch is lightly indicated. Compare the overall prospects from nearby (Tate D20829, D20833; Turner Bequest CCXXVII a 26, 30) and the closer views in D20831 and D24864 (CCXXVII a 28, CCLX 28).
This is among dozens of blue paper studies made in and around East Cowes Castle, presumably in the course of a single visit. For more on the various aspects of the house (demolished in about 1950), and its lost grounds as depicted by Turner, see the Introduction to this subsection.
Verso:
Blank, save for very slight ink offsetting, presumably from another drawing in this East Cowes sequence.

Matthew Imms
November 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘East Cowes Castle from the East 1827 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-east-cowes-castle-from-the-east-r1182690, accessed 19 April 2024.