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

This view of the countryside near Petworth House, looking along a stream towards the distant spire of St Mary’s Church, which is denoted in pink, is closely related to another study in this section (Tate D22667; Turner Bequest CCXLIV 5). The other study also includes a distant view of Petworth House, and both include a figure roughly indicated with brushes of red gouache. Ian Warrell has argued that a ‘colour beginning’ (Tate D25427; Turner Bequest CCLXIII 304) appears to relate to the gouache studies1, noting the possibility that Turner considered the subject for his Picturesque Views in England and Wales print series.2

While the newly erected spire of St Mary’s Church forms a focal point in the distance of this and the related study, the church played an even more prominent role in other works Turner made during his 1827 visit to Petworth. For studies of the church’s interior and a view of the spire under construction, see the ‘Studies of Petworth Church’ subsection.

This is one of a large group of separate studies, most of which were made in gouache 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.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions: inscribed in pencil ‘107 c’ top left, ‘3 | c’ near centre and ‘CCXLIV 6’ bottom centre; stamped in black with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCXLIV 6’ bottom left.