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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Bristol and Malmesbury 1791 > Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Rocky Islet with a Ruined Arch 1791

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Rocky Islet with a Ruined Arch’ 1791
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 5 Recto:
A Rocky Islet with a Ruined Arch 1791
D00076
Turner Bequest VI 5
Pencil on white wove paper, 185 x 263 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘The Ruins of a Chap[el] Standing on an Island in the Severn’ along top edge, and ‘Stones’ and ‘Sea Weed’ in the foreground
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘5’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘VI 5’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The island seems to be that close to the Welsh shore, off Beachley and the mouth of the Wye. The ruins are visible today. This and two other studies of the island, folios 7 verso and 10 verso (D00080, D00084), together with the references on folios 15 verso and 18 recto (D00092, D00097) to ‘Old Passage’ (i.e. the Aust passage) suggest that Turner made the journey by ferry across the Severn, though there is no evidence that he landed in Wales.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Rocky Islet with a Ruined Arch 1791 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-a-rocky-islet-with-a-ruined-arch-r1140125, accessed 20 April 2024.