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

In this cursory view Turner pictures the seafront of a coastal town. The location is probably Brighton, with the Chain Pier rendered in the distance (see Tate D18336–D18338, D18340, D18343, D18345, D18355, D24836, N02064; Turner Bequest CCX 15–16a, 17a, 20, 21, 27, CCLIX 271). Constructed between 1822 and 1823, the Chain Pier was erected predominantly to facilitate the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers from ferries running between Dieppe and Brighton.1 It was built under the direction of Captain Samuel Brown, who designed the Union Suspension Bridge over the Tweed.2 The Chain Pier was situated just below New Steine Square, where Turner was reported to have stayed on 3^rd June 1824.3

There is also a separate jotting of what appears to be a headland with the inscription ‘Light’ above the principal view.

For further sketches of Brighton in this book see Tate D18344, D18347–D18350, D18353–D18365, D18369–D18371; Turner Bequest CCX 20a, 22–23a, 25a–33a, 35a–36a. See also Turner’s design Brighthelmstone, produced for Cooke’s Picturesque Views of the Southern Coast of England and published in 1825 (Tate impression T05289 and Tate D18469; Turner Bequest CCX 88).