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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Bolton Abbey and the River Wharfe, from the North 1816

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Recto:
Bolton Abbey and the River Wharfe, from the North 1816
D09876
Turner Bequest CXXXIV 75
Pencil on white wove paper with gilt edges, 179 x 254 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Stone’ right of centre, on distant river bank below abbey
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXXXIV – 75’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Bolton’s ruined church is seen to the south across the intervening loop in the River Wharfe, from the vicinity of the road to Barden Tower (see folio 15 verso; D09860; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 59a). There is a similar view, without the trees in the foreground framing the view here, on folio 14 recto (D09875; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 74). David Hill notes in his entry for Tate D12117
(Turner Bequest CLIV S), a drawing which he tentatively dates to 1808, appears to show exactly the same view as the present sketch (which he dates to around 1816), even down to the boughs of the trees in the right foreground.
For other views of the abbey see under folio 7 recto (D09874; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 73).

Matthew Imms
July 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Bolton Abbey and the River Wharfe, from the North 1816 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-bolton-abbey-and-the-river-wharfe-from-the-north-r1147369, accessed 28 March 2024.