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 Minster: The West Towers and South Transept from Minstergate 1797

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘York Minster: The West Towers and South Transept from Minstergate’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 88 Recto:
York Minster: The West Towers and South Transept from Minstergate 1797
D01088
Turner Bequest XXXV 86
Pencil on white wove paper, 274 x 370 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre
Stamped in black ‘XXXV 86’ bottom left, descending vertically
As Turner scholar David Hill notes, the viewpoint is necessarily very close to the Minster, on account of the proximity of surrounding buildings. With the page turned horizontally, Turner has consequently been compelled to modify the perspective in order to incorporate as much as possible of the south façade and west towers, turning through an angle of some forty degrees so that the towers appear to be on the diagonal. Five other drawings record the interior of the Minster: one is in the contemporary North of England sketchbook (Tate D00975; Tate XXXIV 66); the other four are on the following leaves of this book, folios 89 recto, 90 recto, 91 recto and 92 recto (D01075–D01078; Turner Bequest XXXV 73, 74, 75, 76).
Technical notes:
The paper is discoloured from exposure, except where the edges were formerly protected by a mount.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
August 2010

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘York Minster: The West Towers and South Transept from Minstergate 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-minster-the-west-towers-and-south-transept-from-r1150252, accessed 24 April 2024.