Joseph Mallord William Turner

Bristol Cathedral from College Green

1791

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On loan

Musée des Beaux-Arts (Bordeaux, France): Absolutely Bizarre!

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Subjects Related to the Bristol and Malmesbury Tour
Medium: Pen and ink and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 342 × 314 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D00108
Turner Bequest VII A

Display caption

Turner visited Bristol for the first time in 1791, and made sketches of buildings of historical or architectural interest. Since 1789 he had been working with the architectural draughtsman Thomas Malton, whose descriptive rendering of buildings he soon mastered. The low viewpoint enhances the soaring height of the cathedral.

Gallery label, May 1993

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Catalogue entry

This is a view of the cathedral from the north-west. The copperplate inscription on the verso (D40029) suggests that this was another subject designated for the ‘12 Views on the River Avon’; see the introductory note to the Bristol and Malmesbury sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest VI).

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

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