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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > French Tour 1821 > Paris, Seine and Dieppe Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Brighton from the Sea 1821

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Brighton from the Sea’ 1821
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 14 Verso:
Brighton from the Sea 1821
D18546
Turner Bequest CCXI 14a
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner drew these five quick sketches of the Sussex coast as the boat he was travelling on departed from Brighton for France.1 At the top of the page (and perhaps continued in the sketch beneath) is a view of Brighton nestled between the cliffs of the South Downs. The dome of the magnificent stables and riding house built for the Prince Regent between 1803 and 1808 can be seen at the centre of the image. Turner was to make more detailed sketches of the dome and Brighton Pavilion on a return visit to the town in 1824 (Tate D18347; Turner Bequest CCX 22).
As his boat sailed towards Dieppe, Turner continued to sketch the outline of the coast in three rough sketches on this page. Further views of the coast at Brighton, Seaford and Folkestone are on folio 25 (Tate D18561; Turner Bequest CCXI 25), and sketches of coastal cliffs on folio 18 (Tate D18551; Turner Bequest CCXI 18) may also have been made during this voyage.

Thomas Ardill
February 2013

1
See Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, p.25.

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Brighton from the Sea 1821 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-brighton-from-the-sea-r1146242, accessed 31 May 2024.