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

This study is on a blue wove paper, typical of those used by Turner in his middle years, which has in the past been covered by a window mount and exposed to too much light. This has not only faded out the blue component of the paper, but has caused the rest to turn yellow. This irreversible change affects the appearance of the reddish pigment applied over the paper as transparent wash, making it look more pink even though the pigment itself has not been faded.

This paper is made from a majority of uncoloured flax fibres derived from linen rags, and a minority of blue-dyed linen and hemp fibres made from blue fabrics ultimately discarded as rags. Some papers such as that in The Billiard Players (Tate D22778; Turner Bequest CCXLIV 116) include blue-dyed cotton fibres of different thicknesses, and little or no hemp, with the colourless flax fibres. Still other blue papers used by Turner include a few red-dyed fibres as well. The paper-maker would have combined the treated and beaten rags to give a consistent – or occasionally interesting and unique – set of papers for sale. Hemp fibres age and discolour faster than cotton and linen ones, so different papers have inherently different stability to light, although this is unknown to the artist who uses them. All the fibre colours are visible when the sheet is viewed on a table at x20 to x40 magnification, and fibre types can be identified with reasonable certainty if a tiny sample is separated from the sheet, teased out, and viewed in transmitted light with a research microscope at x100 to x250. The paper-making process involves harsh and lengthy chemical treatment, beating and stirring of the fibres, so they are always more difficult to identify than younger fibres in cloth that has not yet been discarded and made into paper. The paper-making process in Turner’s era is discussed in much greater detail by Bower,1 who has noted that Turner usually used good quality papers that had been carefully selected for their absorbency and tactile qualities as well as their colour.

This freely coloured and rapidly-painted colour impression perhaps transcends the severe colour change better than some subjects could: the mauve paint was made from vermilion applied thinly to the blue paper to create an ‘optical purple’ which now looks more pink. It is not possible to tell if any of the pinkish red lake pigment mixed with white and used in the foreground was mixed in with the vermilion and has been faded now. In the foreground itself this red lake pigment may not have altered much or at all, but there is none used in the protected edges, to enable a comparison. Examination in ultraviolet light suggests it is not based on madder, as many of Turner's red lake pigments were, and does not give any evidence for colour loss either. The black pigment mixed to form a grey gouache will not have altered, since all the likely black materials are stable in light. The most dramatic change is to the windows which were left unpainted, and now ‘read’ as discoloured paper instead of naturalistic blue sky represented by blue paper.

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.

Ian Warrell and others have identified this luminous study as showing one of Petworth’s bedrooms.1 Turner made numerous gouache studies of the bedrooms at Petworth during his 1827 visit; for more information and a list, see the entry for Tate D22677 (Turner Bequest CCXLIV 15). However, while several of Turner’s bedroom studies are intimate, evening scenes including identifiable items of furniture, the subject of this indistinct interior study is primarily the morning light streaming seen through two large windows. Turner’s palette is soft, the daylight portrayed in warm pinkish hues with white gouache highlights; the light is golden, but it is important to note that the blue paper support has evidently been subject to some yellowing (see technical notes below). Two figures are seen as silhouettes: their focus appears to be the view outside.

Technical notes:

The blue wove paper support shows signs of light damage and is faded and discoloured around the image; this has been limited to an area previously displayed in a window mount that does not quite encompass all of Turner’s marks.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions: inscribed in pencil ‘43 | l’ near centre and ‘ccxliv 112’ bottom centre; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCXLIV 112’ bottom left.