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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Yacht in the Solent off Norris Castle; Yachts under Sail ?off Cowes 1827

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 47 Recto:
A Yacht in the Solent off Norris Castle; Yachts under Sail ?off Cowes 1827
D20669
Turner Bequest CCXXVI 45
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 192 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXXVI – 45’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page comprises two horizontal drawings and two made with the sketchbook turned vertically. At the bottom left is a yacht off the coast, the evident speed of the boat suggesting the open sea of the Solent rather than the River Medina below East Cowes Castle (see under folio 1 verso; D20597); the tower outlined on the left seems rather to be Norris Castle (see under folio 40 recto; D20658; Turner Bequest CCXXVI 38), which is clearly shown on folio 46 verso opposite (D20668; Turner Bequest CCXXVI 44a), with the small tower on the shore at the end of East Cowes Esplanade to the right of the boat, and a loose indication of Cowes to the south-west on the right.
The other three drawings focus on yachts under full sail, manoeuvring in relation to each other, perhaps at the mouth of the Medina; a wisp of smoke from a steamer is seen in the background of the upper vertically orientated sketch. For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes from late July 1827 onwards, see the Introduction.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
November 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Yacht in the Solent off Norris Castle; Yachts under Sail ?off Cowes 1827 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-yacht-in-the-solent-off-norris-castle-yachts-under-sail-r1183310, accessed 19 September 2024.