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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Hereford Court Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Powis Castle, Welshpool, from the South-West 1798

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Powis Castle, Welshpool, from the South-West’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 94 Recto:
Powis Castle, Welshpool, from the South-West 1798
D01315
Turner Bequest XXXVIII 61
Pencil on white wove paper, 229 x 332 mm
Blind-stamped bottom centre with Turner Bequest monogram
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘61’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXVIII 61’ bottom left, descending vertically
The castle, built of red sandstone, and hence called ‘Y Castell Coch’ (the Red Castle), is a dramatically sited thirteenth-century border fortress that underwent periodic modifications to become a grand country house from the sixteenth century, towering above steeply terraced gardens. A finished watercolour showing these terraces, made in about 1834 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales series (Manchester Art Gallery)1 and engraved in 1836 (Tate impressions: T05098, T06116), is largely based on this drawing. A more distant view of Powis is on folio 95 recto (D01316; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 62).
1
Wilton 1979, p.400 no.861, reproduced.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Powis Castle, Welshpool, from the South-West 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-powis-castle-welshpool-from-the-south-west-r1173234, accessed 25 April 2024.