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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Midlands 1830 > Kenilworth Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Birmingham: Distant Views 1830

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Birmingham: Distant Views’ 1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 17 Recto:
Birmingham: Distant Views 1830
D22004
Turner Bequest CCXXXVIII 17
Pencil on white wove paper, 203 x 120 mm
Inscribed by Turner ‘[...]’ by spire towards top right, and ‘[?E...]’ bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘17’ bottom right, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXXXVIII – 17’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are several small drawings here, made with the page turned vertically both ways. Across the top and centre are at least three separate sketches, with the dome of St Philip’s Church (later Birmingham Cathedral) and spires, presumably those of Christ Church (demolished in 1889) and St Martin’s-in-the-Bullring, among chimneys. Along the bottom edge appears to be another slight townscape sketch. Above this, inverted in relation to the other sketches, is one of the spires framed by buildings in the foreground. The Birmingham subjects have been confirmed by Dr Bernard Richards as part of unpublished Turner research informed by local knowledge.1
For other views of Birmingham, see under folio 3 verso (D21980).

Matthew Imms
August 2013

1
Conversation with the author, 14 May 2013.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Birmingham: Distant Views 1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-birmingham-distant-views-r1148646, accessed 20 September 2024.