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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Isle of Wight 1827 > Cowes Regatta Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Rocky Coastlines ?on the Isle of Wight; Regatta Spectators with a Telescope, Probably at Cowes 1827

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Rocky Coastlines ?on the Isle of Wight; Regatta Spectators with a Telescope, Probably at Cowes’ 1827
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 33 Recto:
Rocky Coastlines ?on the Isle of Wight; Regatta Spectators with a Telescope, Probably at Cowes 1827
D18052
Turner Bequest CCVII 33
Pencil on white wove paper, 100 x 74 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘33’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCVII – 33’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, there are rocky coastlines at the top and bottom. In between is a study of a group of men and boys intently watching something off to the right. This is probably the same group loosely indicated on the left of the upper drawing, where the pointed vertical forms indicate sails. One man has a telescope, another shields his eyes, and they are presumably watching the yachts seen on many adjacent pages. As Ann Chumbley and Ian Warrell have noted, there is a similar group on folio 36 recto (D18058);1 see also folio 19 recto (D18024). For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes from late July 1827 onwards, see the sketchbook Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

1
See Chumbley and Warrell 1989, p.60.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Rocky Coastlines ?on the Isle of Wight; Regatta Spectators with a Telescope, Probably at Cowes 1827 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-rocky-coastlines-on-the-isle-of-wight-regatta-spectators-r1183540, accessed 24 April 2024.