Joseph Mallord William Turner

Abergavenny: The Ruined Castle Seen across the Usk, with the Sugar Loaf Beyond

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
Cyfarthfa Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 294 × 459 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D01655
Turner Bequest XLI 24

Catalogue entry

This is the same view as that roughly noted in the contemporary Dynevor Castle sketchbook (Tate D01494–D01495; Turner Bequest XL 19a–20). The initial ‘B___’ inscribed in the lower right corner seems to have been added at a later date, and may be intended for ‘Brecon’, another town on the Usk with which Turner possibly confused Abergavenny. Alternatively it may note a possible commission, though no finished watercolour of this view is known. The little sketch of foliage beside it has the air of a symbol rather than of a study of some natural detail.
Verso:
Blank, apart from a pencil line (a modern accidental mark?); stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

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