Joseph Mallord William Turner Distant view of Derwentwater, from Newlands Road, with Skiddaw and Keswick 1797
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Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Distant view of Derwentwater, from Newlands Road, with Skiddaw and Keswick
1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 38 Recto:
Distant view of Derwentwater, from Newlands Road, with Skiddaw and Keswick 1797
D01028
Turner Bequest XXXV 26
Turner Bequest XXXV 26
Pencil on white wove paper, 274 x 370 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Do’ (i.e. ditto) bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XXXV 26’ bottom left, descending vertically
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Do’ (i.e. ditto) bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XXXV 26’ bottom left, descending vertically
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.75, XXXV 26, as ‘Keswick. “Do.”’.
1996
David Hill, Turner in the North: A Tour through Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, the Scottish Borders, the Lake District, Lancashire and Lincolnshire in the Year 1797, New Haven and London 1996, pp.104, 194, pl.149.
Turner scholar David Hill identifies this view, drawn with the page turned horizontally, as having been taken from Manor Brow, at Castlerigg, looking down on Castle Head and Derwentwater, with a distant view of Derwent Fells; the road is the Penrith road, on which Turner travelled south into Keswick, which is just out of sight to the right of the composition. The mountaineer and art historian Peter Bicknell1 has suggested that the drawing shows the Newlands Road, south-west of Keswick, with a distant view of Skiddaw and Keswick itself on the far shore of the lake. Indeed, if Hill’s identification is correct it is difficult to account for the substantial settlement plainly visible on the far side of the water.
According to Hill, this is Turner’s ‘first impression’ of the Keswick region, and so ought to precede all the drawings from folio 25 recto (D01021; Turner Bequest XXXV 19) onwards, excepting, presumably, folio 30 recto (D01022; Turner Bequest 20); but it is at present bound at the end of the ‘Borrowdale’ sequence (see folio 31 recto; D01023; Turner Bequest XXXV 21), immediately after two studies made on the western shore, folios 36 recto and 37 recto (D01026, D01027; Turner Bequest XXXV 24, 25).
If it in fact this view shows the Newlands Road it would be in the correct place for the final drawing of the excursion, rather than the first of the Keswick stay. Equally, it might be the first drawing of his next excursion, along the Newlands Road and over the Derwent Fells to Buttermere and Crummock Water. Since the distant hills are apparently partly obscured by mist, this may be a morning rather than an evening subject, and the vigour of the work suggests a fresh eye and hand.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram; inscribed by Finberg in pencil ‘141.26’.
Andrew Wilton
August 2010
How to cite
Andrew Wilton, ‘Distant view of Derwentwater, from Newlands Road, with Skiddaw and Keswick 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www