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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fowey; Buildings in a Valley; a Wide River Valley 1811

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fowey; Buildings in a Valley; a Wide River Valley’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 6 Verso:
Fowey; Buildings in a Valley; a Wide River Valley 1811
D08373
Turner Bequest CXXIII 6a
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 75 x 117 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[...] | Fowy’ top left, ‘L[...]’ top right, ‘Wood’ bottom left, and ‘Somersetshire’ towards bottom right, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Finberg counted three sketches, and the page is indeed divided into three, with the upper two quarters separated by vertical and horizontal lines. However, there may be two views of Fowey (or two parts of the same view) within the top-left quadrant, and in the main drawing below there appears to be a continuation in the sky to the right of the hills on that side of the valley. For other views in and around Fowey see under folio 5 verso (D08371).
The lower drawing is disrupted by the prominent word ‘Somersetshire’, qualifying the locations listed on the opposite page (folio 7 recto; D08374).

Matthew Imms
June 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Fowey; Buildings in a Valley; a Wide River Valley 1811 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2011, 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-fowey-buildings-in-a-valley-a-wide-river-valley-r1136849, accessed 25 April 2024.