The Water-Colours of J. M. W. TurnerFinberg, A. J. (Alexander Joseph)
General
The Water-Colours of J. M. W. Turner
Finberg, A. J. (Alexander Joseph)
Turner, J. M. W. (Joseph Mallord William), 1775-1851; Watercolor painting, British
The campaign opens with two drawings of, I think, _Wingfield Manor_,
then comes a church with a tall spire on a hill which I cannot identify;
then we have one drawing of _Rotherham Bridge_ with the chapel on it,
then one of _Conisborough Castle_, single views of the exterior and
interior of _Doncaster Church_, three different views of the ruins of
_Pontefract Church_, and then two neat drawings of the _Chantry on the
Bridge at Wakefield_. It is not till he gets to Kirkstall Abbey that the
artist seems to pause in his breathless rush to the North. There are no
less than nine drawings of this subject, all made from different points
of view; one of these leaves containing the sketch of the Crypt--from
which Sir John Soane’s impressive water-colour was made--contains just a
fragment of colour, and has been for many years among the drawings
exhibited on the ground floor of the National Gallery. In this way we
can follow Turner to Knaresborough, Ripon, Fountains and Easby Abbeys,
Richmond, Barnard Castle, Egglestone Abbey and Durham, and then along
the coast to Warkworth, Alnwick, Dunstanborough, Bamborough and Holy
Island. Judging from the drawings, I think it probable that Turner spent
the best part of a day at Holy Island, but he got to Berwick in time to
draw a general view of the town and bridge, and to make a slight sketch
with his limited gamut of colours--black, blue, and yellow only--of the
evening effect. The next morning he was up in time to see the sun rise
from behind the towers of Norham Castle, and to trace a slight and
hurried pencil outline of the main features of the scene. There is only
this one sketch of the subject, and it does not contain the slightest
suggestion of light and shade or of effect. But there were Kelso and
Melrose and Dryburgh and Jedburgh Abbeys close by waiting to be drawn,
and Turner evidently felt he must hurry on. Having drawn these ruins in
his neat and precise way he turned south and struck into Cumberland. In
the larger sketch book a drawing inscribed _Keswick_ follows immediately
after one of the views of _Melrose Abbey_. Then comes _Cockermouth
Castle_, _the Borrowdale_, _Buttermere_, _St. John’s Vale_, _Grasmere_,
_Rydal_, _Langdale_, and _Ulleswater with Helvellyn in the distance_.
Then follow in rapid succession _Ambleside Mill_, _Windermere_,
_Coniston_, _Furness Abbey_, _Lancaster_, and after a single drawing of
_Bolton Abbey_ we find ourselves in York, where the Cathedral and the
ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey and Bootham Bar must have detained the artist
for perhaps two or three days. The tour, however, is not yet at an end,
for the Hon. Mr. Lascelles (who became Earl of Harewood in 1820) wants
some drawings of Harewood House and of the ruins of Harewood Castle, and
Mr. Hewlett wants some subjects to engrave in his forthcoming “Views in
the County of Lincoln.” It is, therefore, through Howden, Louth, Boston,
Sleaford, and Peterborough that Turner makes his way back to London. He
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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