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

This is a continuation of the view of Kenilworth Castle from the south-south-west on folio 29 verso opposite (D22029). Part of Leicester’s Building appears on the left, with Mortimer’s Tower on the curtain wall below.

Most of the sketches between folios 27 recto (D22024) and 37 verso (D22045) show Kenilworth. For the history of the castle and Turner’s subsequent watercolour, which Eric Shanes has described as a ‘synthesis’ of sketches between folios 28 verso (D22027) and 37 verso,1 see under folio 29 recto (D22028). Andrew Wilton2 followed Finberg3 in citing the present double-page spread as the source for the watercolour Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, c.1830 (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco),4 engraved in 1832 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Tate impressions: T04596, T06099), although the less detailed view on D22028 is closest to the finished design in its juxtaposition of the various elements of the castle.

Technical notes:

There are a few adventitious splashes of pink and yellow watercolour towards the bottom right, corresponding to the evening sky colours of the England and Wales design, suggesting that Turner had the sketchbook open at the present page at least some of the time while working on it.