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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Rokeby and Appleby Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Composition Study; and a Sketch of a Castle c.1830-1

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition Study; and a Sketch of a Castle’ c.1830-1
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 64 Recto:
Composition Study; and a Sketch of a Castle circa 1830–1
D25642
Turner Bequest CCLXIV 64
Pencil on white wove paper, 74 x 94 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘64’ top right running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIV – 64’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two unconnected sketches on this page. The first, made with the sketchbook inverted, is more an exercise in tone and effect than a visual record of a subject, and seems likely to be a composition study rather than an on-the-spot sketch. Three sketches earlier in the book have been identified as composition studies (folios 57–58; D25631–D25633) and this may also be related. Its vertical composition and undefined edges suggest a vignette study, and the subject of a sun shrouded by clouds or smoke recalls works such as A Tempest – Voyage of Columbus circa 1831–2 (watercolour; Tate D27719; Turner Bequest CLXXX 202).
The other sketch on the page, however, this time made with the book turned to the left, does have the appearance of an on-the-spot sketch from the 1831 tour. The subject may be part of Barnard Castle (see folio 55 verso; D25628), or some other castle on a hill or mound.

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Composition Study; and a Sketch of a Castle c.1830–1 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-composition-study-and-a-sketch-of-a-castle-r1134002, accessed 23 September 2024.