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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Folkestone and the Medway c.1821-2 > Folkestone Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Bend of the River Medway, at Rochester c.1821-2

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Bend of the River Medway, at Rochester’ c.1821-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 9 Verso:
A Bend of the River Medway, at Rochester c.1821–2
D17223
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 9a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Two drawings have been made on this page, each composed horizontally but with the sketchbook inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation in one instance.
The prospect rendered upright according to foliation depicts a bend in the river Medway, looking towards Rochester on the right from a vantage point which includes an impression of Strood to the left. To the immediate right of a line of bare tree trunks in the foreground it is possible to make out the shape of Rochester cathedral and castle, side by side in an otherwise gestural landscape.
A second sketch, made with the page inverted according to foliation, describes the same prospect, but elaborates on the landscape to the right of the castle and cathedral. These architectural landmarks appear towards the gutter on the left of the page, with distant hills extending further into the expanse of paper. Two windmills are marked by crosses, one on the right in the foreground and another to the immediate right of the castle. Turner uses the same brief motif on the recto (D17222). There is some overlap between the two renderings on this sheet, with the trees from the bottom drawing puncturing the view laid out, upside down, at the top.
For a list of further studies of the Medway at Rochester in this sketchbook, refer to the entry for folio 6 verso (D17217).

Maud Whatley
January 2016

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘A Bend of the River Medway, at Rochester 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-a-bend-of-the-river-medway-at-rochester-r1184497, accessed 20 May 2024.