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

The four works grouped here are associated with certainty or near-certainty with the major series of watercolours engraved as Picturesque View in England and Wales (published 1827–38), which Andrew Wilton has described as ‘the central document in Turner’s art’. The history and significance of the published series, has been covered in great detail elsewhere, particularly by Wilton and Eric Shanes. A hundred finished watercolours were made, of which ninety-six were engraved and issued in approximately triannual parts containing four plates. They were initially commissioned by Charles Heath, who bought the finished watercolours from Turner, and exhibited them in their own right in 1829, 1831 and 1833. The publishing history is somewhat convoluted, but in effect the prints were not a financial success and the series concluded in 1838, far short of a projected one hundred and twenty designs. By then, Turner had been had been paid thirty guineas for each of ninety-seven watercolours. These ...