Joseph Mallord William Turner

A River in a Valley, with a Distant Tower and Mountains

1798

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
North Wales Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 170 × 266 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D01396
Turner Bequest XXXIX 41

Catalogue entry

Drawn with the page turned horizontally, the tower on its low promontory is reminiscent of Dolbadarn Castle (see folio 33 recto; D01388), but the surrounding hills, although evidently obscured by cloud, descend too gently into the valley to be identified with Snowdon and its neighbours as seen from Llanberis. Furthermore, there is no sign of the Lake of Llanberis which would certainly figure in the foreground of any view of Dolbadarn from this angle. It is possible, however, that the ‘tower’ is to be identified with the large house that appears in a view in the contemporary Hereford Court sketchbook (Tate D01332; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 78), in which case this is the valley of the Gwrhyd looking south west from near Capel Curig.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

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