Joseph Mallord William Turner

Conwy Castle

1799

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Dolbadarn Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 79 × 130 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D02154
Turner Bequest XLVI 107 a

Catalogue entry

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Turner made various outline sketches of the great mass of Conwy Castle; see folios 99 verso and 104 verso (D02141, D02148), and here he comes close to the composition of a large painting of the subject (private collection),1 executed shortly after his return from this tour, and a series of watercolour views of the castle,2 notably the large view now at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.3

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, pp.107–8 no.141, pl.146 (colour).

Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, pp.329–30 nos.268–271 (some reproduced).

Ibid., pp.329–30 no.270 (then Viscount Gage collection).

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