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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner At South Foreland c.1821-2

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 71 Recto:
At South Foreland c.1821–2
D17328
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 71
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Stamped in black ‘CXCVIII – 71’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Continuing a series of studies made of the chalk cliffs at South Foreland near Dover in Kent, here Turner describes a view to the northeast, observed presumably from the shoreline.1 The handling is detailed and evocative, combining fluid, lengthy lines to denote the overarching shapes of the coastal rock forms, and short, jagged marks to conjure a sense of the intricate nooks and sharp edges of smaller shards. The inland topography seems undulating and unpredictable, and the effect is of an energetic landmass towering over a placid sea. For a list of the other drawings made at this location in the present sketchbook, see the entry for folio 8 recto (D17220).
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.606.
Technical notes:
A leaf has been torn out between this and the facing page on folio 70 verso (D17327), leaving a short, jagged stub.

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘At South Foreland c.1821–2 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-at-south-foreland-r1184602, accessed 29 March 2024.