Joseph Mallord William Turner

This composition continues from folio 10 verso opposite (D09885; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 81), where the east end of the abbey is shown from the south. For other views of the abbey see under folio 7 recto (D09874; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 73). Finberg noted that the present double-page sketch is the basis for the watercolour Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire of about 1825 (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight),1 engraved in 1827 for the series Picturesque Views in England and Wales.2 He made a lengthy analysis of the differences between the present sketch and the watercolour, where ‘almost every detail has been altered’ to create ‘a whole complex of visible harmony.’3

Here the bank leads down to the river Wharfe, indicated by Turner’s inscription ‘Beautiful R[...]’, the short second word of which Finberg reads as ‘Refln’ (i.e. ‘Reflection’), but notes Ruskin’s reading ‘riple’ [sic].4

Technical notes:

Except at the edges, the sheet has darkened through prolonged display.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions: by John Ruskin in red ink ’35’ bottom left; and in pencil ‘CXXXIV.81–82’ bottom left, descending vertically