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 > Tweed and Lakes Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner York: The Minster Seen from the River, with St Mary's Abbey 1797

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘York: The Minster Seen from the River, with St Mary's Abbey’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 85 Recto:
York: The Minster Seen from the River, with St Mary’s Abbey 1797
D01072
Turner Bequest XXXV 70
Pencil on white wove paper, 274 x 370 mm
Watermark ‘1794 | J Whatman’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘St Mary Abbey’ bottom left, and ‘W’, ‘X’, ‘S’ and ‘6’ in the drawing
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XXXV 70’ bottom left, descending vertically
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, the view is taken from the southern shore of the Ouse, with St Mary’s tower on the further bank, centre, and the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey visible at the left. Turner scholar David Hill observes that Turner took considerable interest in the activity of a boatyard housed at that time in the Abbey’s Hospitium. He also speculates that a watercolour of the same subject by Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) in the collection of Harewood House may have been based on this drawing. A closer view of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey is on folio 86 recto (D01073; Turner Bequest XXXV 71).
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram; inscribed by A.J. Finberg in pencil ‘141.70’.

Andrew Wilton
August 2010

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘York: The Minster Seen from the River, with St Mary’s Abbey 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2010, 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-york-the-minster-seen-from-the-river-with-st-marys-abbey-r1150249, accessed 19 April 2024.