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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Studies for Pictures Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Castle on a Headland c.1799-1802

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Castle on a Headland’ c.1799-1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 2 Recto:
A Castle on a Headland c.1799–1802
D03995
Turner Bequest LXIX 2
Pencil and white chalk on blue laid paper, 135 x 210 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘2’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXIX-2’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the page turned horizontally, this is probably a composition study for a view of Harlech Castle, which Turner had drawn on his tour of North Wales in 1798; it may be based on a drawing in the North Wales sketchbook (Tate D01376; Turner Bequest XXXIX 21). Other drawings of Harlech to which Turner may have referred are Tate D01377 (Tate XXXIX 22) in the North Wales book and various pages in the 1798 Hereford Court sketchbook (Tate D01292, D01294, D01329; Turner Bequest XXXVIII 40, 42, 75). See also folio 4 recto (D03997) of the present book.
Technical notes:
The splashes of brown colour across this drawing may come from the study of Dunstanburgh Castle on folio 5 recto (D03998), and there are further splashes on the verso of folio 101 (D04117; Turner Bequest 102).
Verso:
Blank

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Castle on a Headland c.1799–1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-castle-on-a-headland-r1177872, accessed 17 July 2024.