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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Tour of Yorkshire 1816 > Yorkshire 3 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fountains Abbey and Hall 1816

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fountains Abbey and Hall’ 1816
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 10 Recto:
Fountains Abbey and Hall 1816
D11384
Turner Bequest CXLVI 10
Pencil on white wove paper, 125 x 200 mm
Watermarked ‘[SA]LMON | [1]809’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Distance too much’ in sky, towards top right
Inscribed by an unknown hand in blue ink ‘10’ top right and ‘330’ bottom right
Stamped in brown ‘CXLVI 10’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Fountains Hall and Abbey are seen from the west-south-west, with the River Skell below. The Yorkshire 1 sketchbook has a detailed study of Fountains Hall from the same angle, but a closer viewpoint (Tate D10937–D10938; Turner Bequest CXLIV 37a–38), probably made to record close detail likely to be required for a finished composition developed from the present sketch. However, from Turner’s comment here that the ‘Distance [is] too much’, it would appear that he came to the conclusion that the viewpoint was too far away to serve his requirements.
The page is darkened from over-exposure.

David Hill
January 2009

How to cite

David Hill, ‘Fountains Abbey and Hall 1816 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-fountains-abbey-and-hall-r1143511, accessed 25 April 2024.