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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > North of England 1797-1801 > North of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Holy Island: General View from the Sea 1797

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Holy Island: General View from the Sea’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 54 Recto:
Holy Island: General View from the Sea 1797
D00959
Turner Bequest XXXIV 51
Pencil on white wove paper, 210 x 270 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘51’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIV 51’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned horizontally, Turner shows the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church with Holy Island Castle beyond; the Parish Church of St Mary is just visible at the extreme left. David Hill suggests that this was Turner’s first view of the place, coming by sea from Bamburgh. It is possible that this leaf has been misbound, since it occurs in the middle of a sequence of drawings of the interior of the priory church on folios 53 recto, and 55 recto, 56 recto, 57 recto and 58 recto (Tate D00958, D00960–D00963; Turner Bequest XXXIV 50, 52–55), which appears to have absorbed much of Turner’s interest. However, he did return to this more general view for a watercolour in the series of Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Victoria and Albert Museum, London),1 engraved in 1830 (Tate impressions: T04558, T04559, T06089); its dramatic storm and figures coming ashore in a rough sea prompted David Hill to speculate that Turner experienced such conditions during his own visit to Lindisfarne.
1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.396 no.819, reproduced.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
January 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Holy Island: General View from the Sea 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-holy-island-general-view-from-the-sea-r1150115, accessed 25 April 2024.