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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Views at Folkestone c.1821-2

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 31 Verso:
Views at Folkestone c.1821–2
D17260
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 31a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘T Edm | 18’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This fragmented scene describes Folkestone as viewed by Turner with his back to the sea.1 Towards top left, on the crest of the cliff, the parish church of St Mary and St Eanswythe overlooks the harbour, and other small dwellings litter the horizon. For a list of further studies of Folkestone and this church in the present sketchbook, see folio 17 verso (D17235). A row of fishing boats is lined up on the left in the foreground, and fishermen stand in front of them in their oilskin coats and hats.
Towards top right Turner makes two smaller drawings. The topmost of these outlines the jagged shape of receding cliffs, possibly those to the west of Folkestone. Underneath and further to the right of this is another sketch. Similar in scale, it describes another cluster of coastal buildings. Moving down the page, Turner’s renderings become more difficult to identify, but presumably elaborate on yet more details observed of Folkestone from a similar perspective as those discussed above.
For an overview of Folkestone in Turner’s work more generally, refer to the sketchbook Introduction.

Maud Whatley
January 2016

1
Finberg 1909, I, p.605.

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘Views at Folkestone c.1821–2 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-views-at-folkestone-r1184534, accessed 19 September 2024.