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

D25000, D25008, D25011, D25015, D25016, D25026, D25027, D25031, D25033, D25036, D25041, D25043, D25063, D25068, D25075–D25077, D25081, D25100, D25105, D25106, D25213, D33704, D33715, D34132, D36199, D40098, D40100–D40102, D40135, D40136,

Turner Bequest CCLXI 28, 36, 39, 43, 44, 54, 55, 59, 61, 64, 69, 71, 91, 96, 103–105, 109, 128, CCLXII 5, 6, CCLXIII 91, CCCXLI 25, 36, 408, CCCLXIV 339

Most of the works in the present grouping fall within the sequence CCLXI in A.J. Finberg’s 1909 Inventory of the Turner Bequest. He described the grouping, which comprises 128 sheets, as ‘Small pencil on blue’, emphasising their diminutive scale and the artist’s distinctive use of blue wove paper.1 While Finberg tentatively dated the sketches to around 1830, a precise date remains difficult to pin down for most of the works presented here. A provisional timeframe of between 1826 and 1841 is provided for the overall selection, pending further research and more accurate identifications.

The remainder of the present grouping combines works from five further sequences in Finberg’s Inventory: Turner Bequest CCLXII (‘Large pencil on blue’, c.1830); CCLXIII (‘Colour Beginnings’, c.1820–30); CCCXLI (‘Miscellaneous: black and white’, c.1830–41); and CCCLXIV (‘Miscellaneous: colour’, after c.1830).2 All of the works appear on separate sheets of paper, rather than in sketchbooks, with eight also worked on the versos, which Finberg did not mention (D40098, D40100–D40102, D40135, D40136).

John Ruskin, who first sorted and categorised the Turner Bequest sheets, apparently held these studies in low regard, and his disparaging comments on separate wrappers (most of which are now lost) are recorded for posterity in Finberg’s 1909 Inventory. Turner’s ‘scrawls’ are referred to variously as ‘Rubbish’, or – perhaps Ruskin’s most complimentary assessment – ‘of some small interest and value’.3

One criterion for the present grouping is their geographical subject-matter. On the one hand, this selection reflects a lack of geographical precision: none of the drawings has been associated definitively with a specific tour or thematic section compiled within the present catalogue. Thus far, they have received limited scholarly attention, and further research is required to pinpoint a more accurate location. Equally, as Finberg acknowledged in his Inventory, the studies assembled here likely represent French subjects.

Following his first visit to France in 1802, Turner returned on multiple occasions over the following decades, and his exploratory tours of different regions are detailed in scholarship by Ian Warrell and Maurice Guillaud, among others.4 In rare cases, sketches have been persuasively linked to specific landmarks; see, for example, D25011 (Turner Bequest CCLXI 39), which is now thought to represent Rouen Cathedral. For the most part, however, a lack of distinguishing architectural or topographical features prevents a conclusive identification. Turner’s hand-written inscriptions occasionally aid the process of plotting his movements, but their frequent illegibility can limit their practical use. Recurring architectural and topographical themes unite many of the sketches in the present grouping. Cathedrals are represented particularly well in this selection: see, for example, D25011, D40100, D40101, D25015–D25016, D25033, and D34132 (CCLXI 39, 43, 44, 61, CCCXLI 408). Turner sketched these monumental structures from a range of perspectives, drawing on his formative draughtsmanship skills to detail their delicate tracery and fenestration. Bridges are another common architectural theme, and Turner’s rapid pencil studies convey their impressive scale and structural support: see, for example, D25036, D25041 and D25075–D25077 (CCLXI 64, 69, 103–105). Fortified towns, turrets and crenellations also caught Turner’s eye: see, for example, D25000 and D25063, (CCLXI 28, 91). While most of the studies tend to omit figures, several include quotidian scenes of fellow travellers, crowded street views or the occasional angler: see, for example, D25075, D25081, D25100, D25105, D24106 and D36199 (CCLXI 103, 109, 128, CCLXII 5–6, CCCLXIV 339).

Barring the two watercolours in this selection, D25213 and D36199 (Turner Bequest CCLXIII 91, CCCLXIV 339), most of the works demonstrate Turner’s economic use of pencil. Producing rapid sketches of passing scenery, from sublime landscapes to intricate architectural features, he created a vast repository of visual information. It is unclear whether he intended to work up select items with watercolour and gouache at a later date, or if he returned to these sketches as inspiration for works in other media. White chalk is occasionally used to accentuate figurative and architectural details, or to illuminate swathes of sky and bodies of water.

The items assembled here also evidence Turner’s fondness for experimenting with different types of paper, a subject on which the paper historian Peter Bower has written extensively.5 Blue wove paper appears most frequently, but there are also shades of cream and buff. Warrell has also commented on Turner’s use of blue paper, noting that this was a relatively novel addition to his sketching materials in 1826, the year he carried blue papers with him to France.6 Turner continued to experiment with similar separate sheets over subsequent tours.

This grouping has been augmented by three entries by Tate cataloguer Caitlin Doley, transferred in the course of research for her concurrent ‘European Towns, Hills, and Mountains c.1826–34’ section (Tate D25027, D25031, D40136; Turner Bequest CCLXI 55, 59).