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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Studies for Pictures Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Distant Coastline with Hills and Clouds c.1799-1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Distant Coastline with Hills and Clouds’ c.1799-1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Recto:
A Distant Coastline with Hills and Clouds c.1799–1802
D03996
Turner Bequest LXIX 3
Pencil and white chalk on blue laid paper, 135 x 210 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘3’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXIX-3’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page turned horizontally, this rapid but atmospheric study evokes a tranquil coastline at dusk; it may have been executed along with the similar studies on folios 12 recto (D04006) and 126 recto (D04144; Turner Bequest LXIX 127). The isolated hill catching the light in the centre may be Moel-y-gest, on the north-west shore of Traeth Mawr, the estuary of the Glaslyn, which was to be reclaimed from the sea in the first decade of the nineteenth century by a slate millionaire, William Maddocks, after whom the town of Porthmadog is named. See the entry for the opening page of the Hereford Court sketchbook (Tate D01247; Turner Bequest XXXVIII).
Verso:
Blank; slight offset from folio 4 recto opposite (D03997).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Distant Coastline with Hills and Clouds c.1799–1802 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 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-distant-coastline-with-hills-and-clouds-r1177873, accessed 26 April 2024.