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

The view is from the south side of East Hill, looking west. It was made from a similar elevation as the nearer view from Sandy Hill Lane on folio 5 (D08812), but from a little further south, in the vicinity of Corfe Castle’s Victorian railway station. The terrain on this side of the village has been reshaped by the railway, making Turner’s exact viewpoint difficult to determine, although it is possible to obtain a similar view of the whole of the village centre and castle from the footpath up East Hill from Sandy Hill Lane.

This drawing is relatively rapid and sketchy, and Turner seems to have abandoned it in favour of a larger, more precisely observed treatment in the Somerset and North Devon sketchbook (Tate D08954; Turner Bequest CXXVI 8) drawn from nearby, indicating that he favoured this aspect, although the composition was not developed beyond these sketches.

There is another drawing of the castle bridge and village on folio 9 recto (D08940; Turner Bequest CXXV 49, bound and stamped as CXXIV 9). For further views, see the entry for folio 17 recto (D08826).

Technical notes:

Small, irregular losses to the centre of the left-hand edge and the top right corner have been made good.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscription by John Ruskin in red ink ‘43’ top right.