J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

This is one of a large group of separate studies, most of which were made in gouache and watercolour on blue paper, associated with a visit to Petworth House in West Sussex, the home of the third Earl of Egremont. For more information, see the Introduction to this section.

Turner made two studies of Petworth’s North Gallery during his 1827 visit: for the other, see Tate D22687; Turner Bequest CCXLIV 25. Lord Egremont had recently completed an extension to this space, which created the top lit central corridor shown in the mid-ground of the present view.1 He also oversaw the addition of paintings to the space and added to the display of sculptures. Both of Turner’s studies show the North or Square Bay, the completion of which, in October 1827,2 coincided with Turner’s visit: this is dominated by the towering presence of John Flaxman’s marble, St Michael Overcoming Satan. In addition to showing Flaxman’s sculpture in situ, Turner’s study captures a sightline down the gallery, providing a snapshot of the arrangement of objects, including some identifiable with those still at Petworth today. An antique marble, Seated Figure of a Philosopher (400–300 BC), can be seen beyond the Flaxman3, and William Owens’s (1769–1825) full-length portrait, Mrs Robinson, is on the left. A mirror hangs below this painting, while a smaller portrait, less distinctly shown, sits above it; as Christopher Rowell has noted, identifying the other pictures roughly indicated by Turner is problematic due to the lack of an inventory until 1837, by which time the hang had changed.4 Rowell also pointed out the grey-blue and white wall colours shown within the study, and the large red sofa in the foreground, which seems to have been replaced in 1835 or 1836.5

Both of Turner’s views of the gallery space include visitors. Here they are roughly indicated in the mid-ground, revealing the grand scale of the space. Unusually within the present series of blue paper studies, which appear for the most part to have been composed directly with the brush, pencil marks are visible on this sheet, particularly around the arches.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions: inscribed in pencil ‘6 a’ centre right; stamped in black ‘CCXLIV 13’ bottom left; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left.