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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Dieppe and Kent Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Houses on a Channel Cliff; a Coastal View 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Houses on a Channel Cliff; a Coastal View’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Verso:
Houses on a Channel Cliff; a Coastal View 1845
D35517
Turner Bequest CCCLXI 16a
Pencil on white wove paper, 86 x 111 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?w]’ above centre
Partial watermark ‘ing | 42’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The upper two-thirds of the page comprise a rapid but relatively detailed view of houses on the skyline above rugged cliffs (possibly inscribed ‘w’ for their white chalk), apparently with boats on a steep beach towards the right. The setting is presumably a Channel coastline, and the view on folios 17 verso–18 recto (D35519–D35520) show a similar aspect. Although disjointed, the sketches of cliffs further off on folio 17 recto opposite (D35518) seem to be related.
Below, inverted and separated by a horizontal pencil line, is a heavier, slighter view of low hills or cliffs, possibly with a dark structure at the centre, while the mark at the outer corner may indicate a tower; again, there is what seems to be a related view on the opposite page. See the sketchbook’s Introduction for the many slight coastal views scattered through it.
Technical notes:
There is some brown staining at the gutter, possibly indicating water damage in the 1928 Tate flood.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Houses on a Channel Cliff; a Coastal View 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-houses-on-a-channel-cliff-a-coastal-view-r1183940, accessed 12 May 2024.