TURNER’S SKETCHES
AND DRAWINGS

By
A. J. F I N B E R G
WITH 100 ILLUSTRATIONS
SECOND EDITION
METHUEN & CO. LTD
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON

First Published	.	.	.	July 21st 1910
Second Edition	.	.	.	1911

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.

	PAGE
LIST OF PLATES,	[ix]
INTRODUCTORY,	[1]
The nature of our subject-matter,	[1]
The raw material of art,	[2]
The character of our subject-matter, as embryonic forms of artistic expression, prescribes our method of study,	[2]
Our difficulties of description and analysis,	[3]
The separation of Art-criticism from Aesthetic,	[3]
Eight aspects of Turner’s genius,	[4]
CHAPTER
[I. SEVEN YEARS’ APPRENTICESHIP—1787-1793,]	[6]
Turner’s first drawings,	[6]
‘St. Vincent’s Tower,’	[6]
Copies and imitations,	[8]
His debt to art,	[10]
Work with Mr. Hardwick,	[10]
Oxford sketches,	[11]
‘Radley Hall,’	[12]
Working from the Antique,	[14]
The Bristol sketch-book,	[14]
End of the apprenticeship,	[16]
[II. THE TOPOGRAPHICAL DRAUGHTSMAN—1793-1796,]	[17]
Welsh tour of 1793,	[17]
‘St. Anselm’s Chapel,’	[18]
Turner’s topographical rivals,	[18]
Midland tour of 1794,	[20]
Limitations of topographical and antiquarian art,	[22]
‘Interior of a Cottage,’	[23]
Light and Shade as a means of expression,	[24]
The sketch-books of 1795 and their contents,	[25]
‘High Force of Tees’ or ‘Fall of Melincourt’?	[27]
[III. THE SUBLIME—1797-1802,]	[29]
Change from pure outline to light and shade,	[29]
‘Ewenny Priory,’	[30]
Contrast between ‘Ewenny’ (1797) and ‘Llandaff Cathedral’ (1796),	[30]
Transition from Objectivity to Subjectivity,	[31]
Growth of taste for the Sublime,	[31]
There are no sublime objects, but only objects of sublime feeling,	[32]
Therefore no guidance but from Art,	[32]
The Wilson tradition,	[33]
The two currents in Turner’s work at this period—
(a) Study of Nature;
(b) Study of the Wilson tradition,	[33]
In the 1797 sketches these two currents are kept distinct,	[34]
The North of England tour (1797) and its record,	[34]
‘Studies for Pictures: Copies of Wilson,’	[36]
The two currents begin to coalesce,	[37]
The origin of ‘Jason,’	[38]
Scotch tour (1801),	[38]
Swiss tour (1802),	[39]
[IV. THE SEA PAINTER—1802-1809,]	[41]
Contrast between Marine painting and the Sublime,	[41]
Turner’s first sea-pieces,	[42]
The ‘Bridgewater Sea-piece,’	[42]
‘Meeting of the Thames and Medway,’	[46]
‘Our landing at Calais—nearly swampt,’	[48]
‘Fishermen upon a Lee Shore,’	[48]
The Dunbar and Guisborough Shore sketch-book,	[48]
‘The Shipwreck,’	[49]
The mouth of the Thames,	[51]
‘Sheerness’ and the ‘Death of Nelson,’	[53]
[V. ‘SIMPLE NATURE’—1808-1813,]	[55]
The works of this period an important yet generally neglected aspect of Turner’s art,	[55]
Turner’s classification of ‘Pastoral’ as distinguished from ‘Elegant Pastoral,’	[56]
The Arcadian idyll of the mid-eighteenth century,	[57]
The first ‘Pastoral’ subjects in ‘Liber,’	[57]
The ‘Windmill and Lock,’	[57]
Events connected with the development of Turner’s deeper and more solemn conception of the poetry of rural life,	[58]
An attempt to define the mood of pictures like the ‘Frosty Morning,’	[64]
The work of art is nothing less than its full significance,	[67]
Distinction between mood and character,	[68]
[VI. THE ‘LIBER STUDIORUM,’]	[72]
Object of this chapter,	[72]
The first ‘Liber’ drawings were made at W. F. Wells’s cottage at Knockholt, Kent,	[73]
‘Bridge and Cows,’	[73]
Development of the so-called ‘Flint Castle,’	[75]
‘Basle,’	[78]
‘Little Devil’s Bridge,	[80]
‘London from Greenwich,’	[80]
‘Kirkstall Crypt,’	[81]
Etchings of the so-called ‘Raglan Castle’ and ‘Source of the Arveron,’	[82]
Suggestion for the better exhibition of the ‘Liber Studiorum’ drawings,	[83]
[VII. THE SPLENDOUR OF SUCCESS, OR ‘WHAT YOU WILL’—1813-1830,]	[84]
Survey of the ground we have covered,	[84]
The training of Turner’s sympathies by the Poets,	[85]
The limits of artistic beauty,	[86]
The predominantly sensuous bent of Turner’s genius,	[86]
The parting of the ways,	[87]
The influence of the Academy and society,	[88]
Turner’s first visit to Italy,	[89]
The Naturalistic fallacy,	[95]
Turner’s work for the engraver,	[97]
[VIII. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DECAY, AND THE ORIGIN OF IMPRESSIONISM—1830-1845,]	[116]
Mental Characteristics of the 1815-1830 period,	[116]
Their influence on form and colour,	[117]
Colour enrichment a general characteristic of Romantic art,	[118]
What further development is required to give the transition to Impressionism?	[118]
Turner’s first Impressionistic work,	[119]
Vagueness as a means of expression,	[119]
Two ways of painting one’s impressions. Turner’s earlier way contrasted with the modern Impressionistic way,	[119]
The change after 1830 is it a change in terms of sight or of thought—visual or mental?	[120]
The content of Turner’s later work,	[120]
Relation of Turner’s later work to Impressionism defined,	[121]
The historical development of Turner’s later manner,	[126]
The Petworth sketches,	[126]
Discovery of the artistic value of the Indeterminate,	[128]
‘Rivers of France,’	[129]
Venetian sketches,	[131]
Swiss and Rhine sketches,	[134]
The end,	[135]
[IX. CONCLUSION,]	[136]
The distinction between Art-criticism and Aesthetic,	[136]
The aim of this chapter,	[137]
Art and physical fact,	[137]
The ‘common-sense’ conception of landscape art as evidence of fact,	[137]
Mr. Ruskin’s treatment of the relation of Art and Nature,	[138]
His confusion of Nature and Mind,	[140]
Art as a form of communication implies that the dualism of Nature and Mind is overcome,	[143]
What does Art represent?	[144]
An individualised psychical content present to the mind of the artist,	[145]
Classification of Turner’s sketches and studies from the point of view of their logical content,	[146]
The assertions in a work of art do not directly qualify the ordinary real world, but an imaginary world specially constructed for the artist’s purpose,	[150]
The ideal of complete definition,	[151]
Yet the content must determine the form,	[151]
Plea for a dynamic study of Artistic form,	[153]
[INDEX],	[155]

LIST OF PLATES

All the Drawings are in the National Gallery, unless otherwise specified.

(The numbers, etc., in brackets refer to the position of the Drawings in the Official Inventory.)

	The Pass of Faïdo,St. Gothard,	[Frontispiece]
	Water Colour. 1844. (CCCLXIV. 209.)
PLATE		PAGES
[I.]	St. Vincent’s Tower, Naples,	Between [6-7]
	Water-Colour. About 1787. (I.E.)
[II.]	Central Portion of an Aquatint by Paul Sandby, after Fabris, entitled ‘Part of Naples, with the Ruin’d Tower of St. Vincent.’ Published 1st Jan. 1778,	Between [6-7]
[III.]	Radley Hall: South Front,	Facing [11]
	Water-Colour. About 1789. (III. D).
[IV.]	View on the Avon, from Cook’s Folly,	Facing [14]
	Water-Colour and Ink. About 1791. (VI. 24).
[V.]	Lincoln Cathedral,	Between [20-21]
	Water Colour, exhibited at Royal Academy, 1795. In Print Room, British Museum.
[VI.]	Lincoln Cathedral, from the South-west,	Between [20-21]
	Pencil. 1794. (XXI. 0).
[VII.]	Pony and Wheelbarrow,	Facing [23]
	Pencil. 1794. (XXI. 27a).
[VIII.]	Melincourt Fall, Vale of Neath,	Facing [26]
	Pencil, part in Water-Colour. 1795. (XXVI. 8).
[IX.]	Interior of Ripon Cathedral: North Transept,	Facing [28]
	Pencil. 1797. (XXXV. 6).
[X.]	Conway Falls, near Bettws-y-Coed,	Facing [30]
	Water-Colour. About 1798. (XXXVIII. 71.)
[XI.]	Conway Castle,	Facing [32]
	Pencil. About 1798. (XXXVIII. 50a).
[XII.]	Ruined Castle on Hill,	Facing [34]
	Water-Colour. About 1798. (L. K.).
[XIII.]	Study of Fallen Trees,	Facing [36]
	Water-Colour. About 1798. (XLII. 18-19.)
[XIV.]	Caernarvon Castle,	Facing [37]
	Pencil. 1799. (XLVI. 51.)
[XV.]	Cassiobury: North-west View,	Facing [38]
	Pencil. About 1800. (XLVII. 41.)
[XVI.]	Blair’s Hut on the Montanvert and Mer de Glace.
	Sketch for the Water-Colour in the Farnley Collection,	Facing [39]
	Water-Colour. 1802. (LXXV. 22.)
[XVII.]	Study for the ‘Bridgewater Sea-piece,’	Facing [42]
	Pen and ink, wash, and white chalk on blue paper. About 1801.(LXXXI. 122-123.)
[XVIII.]	Study of a Barge with Sails Set,	Facing [43]
	Pen and ink, wash, and white chalk on blue paper. About 1802.(LXXXI. 138-139.)
[XIX.]	Fishermen launching Boat in a rough Sea,	Facing [44]
	Pen and ink and wash. About 1802. (LXVIII. 3.)
[XX.]	Study for ‘Sun rising through Vapour,’	Facing [45]
	Black and white chalk on blue paper. About 1804. (LXXXI. 40.)
[XXI.]	Study for ‘The Shipwreck,’	Facing [47]
	Pen and ink and wash. About 1805. (LXXXVII. 16.)
[XXII.]	Men-of-War’s Boats fetching Provisions (1),	Facing [49]
	Pencil. About 1808. (XCIX. 18.)
[XXIII.]	Men-of-War’s Boats fetching Provisions (2),	Facing [50]
	Pencil. About 1808. (XCIX. 22.)
[XXIV.]	‘The Inscrutable,’	Facing [52]
	Pencil. About 1808. (CI. 18.)
[XXV.]	Sketch for ‘Hedging and Ditching,’	Between [56-57]
	Pencil. About 1807. (C. 47.)
[XXVI.]	‘Hedging and Ditching,’	Between [56-57]
	Wash drawing in Sepia for ‘Liber Studiorum.’ About 1808. (CXVII. W.)
[XXVII.]	(a) Mill on the Grand Junction Canal, near Hanwell,
	Pencil. About 1809. (CXIV. 72a-73).	Facing [61]
	(b) ‘Windmill and Lock,’	Facing [61]
	Engraving published in ‘Liber Studiorum,’ 1st June, 1811. (R. 27).
[XXVIII.]	Whalley Bridge and Village,	Facing [62]
	Pencil. About 1808. (CIII. 8).
[XXIX.]	Whalley Bridge. Sketch for the Picture exhibited at the Royal Academy. 1811. (Now in Lady Wantage’s Collection),	Facing [63]
	Pencil. About 1808. (CIII. 6.)
[XXX.]	London, from Greenwich Park,	Facing [64]
	Pencil. About 1809. (CXX. H.)
[XXXI.]	Petworth House, from the Lake,	Facing [65]
	Pencil. About 1809. (CIX. 4.)
[XXXII.]	Petworth House, from the Park,	Facing [66]
	Pencil. About 1809. (CIX. 5.)
[XXXIII.]	Cockermouth Castle,	Facing [67]
	Pencil. About 1809. (CIX. 15.)
[XXXIV.]	Landscape near Plymouth,	Facing [68]
	Pencil. About 1812. (CXXXI. 96.)
[XXXV.]	(a) Sandycombe Lodge and Grounds,	Facing [69]
	Pen and Ink. About 1811. (CXIV. 73a-74.)
	(b) Plan of Garden: Sandycombe Lodge,	Facing [69]
	Pen and Ink. About 1812. (CXXVII. 21a.)
[XXXVI.]	Scene on the French Coast,	Between [74-75]
	Sepia. About 1806. (CXVI. C.)
[XXXVII.]	Scene on the French Coast. Generally known as ‘Flint Castle: Smugglers,’	Between [74-75]
	Print of etching, washed with Sepia. About 1807. (CXVI. D.)
[XXXVIII.]	Juvenile Tricks,	Facing [78]
	Sepia. About 1808. (CXVI. Z.)
[XXXIX.]	Berry Pomeroy Castle. Generally known as ‘Raglan Castle,’	Facing [79]
	Sepia. About 1813. (CXVIII. E.)
[XL.]	The Alcove, Isleworth. Generally known as ‘Twickenham—Pope’s Villa,’ etc.,	Facing [8]
	Sepia. About 1816. (CXVIII. I.)
[XLI.]	Sheep-Washing, Windsor,	Facing [81]
	Sepia. About 1818. (CXVIII. Q.)
[XLII.]	View of a River, from a Terrace. Sometimes called‘Macon,’	Facing [82]
	Sepia. About 1818. (CXVIII. Y.)
[XLIII.]	Crowhurst, Sussex,	Facing [83]
	Sepia. About 1818. (CXVIII. R.)
[XLIV.]	Kirkby Lonsdale Bridge,	Facing [84]
	Pencil. About 1816. (CXLVIII. 4c-5.)
[XLV.]	Raby Castle,	Facing [85]
	Pencil. About 1817. (CLVI. 16a-17.)
[XLVI.]	Raby Castle,	Facing [86]
	Pencil. About 1817. (CLVI. 19a-20.)
[XLVII.]	Raby Castle,	Facing [87]
	Pencil. About 1817. (CLVI. 18a-19.)
[XLVIII.]	Looking up the Grand Canal, Venice, from near the Accademia di Belle Arti,	Facing [90]
	Pencil. 1819. (CLXXV. 70a-71.)
[XLIX.]	St. Mark’s, Venice, with part of the Ducal Palace,	Facing [91]
	Pencil. 1819. (CLXXV. 45.)
[L.]	The Piazzetta, Venice, looking towards Isola di S. Giorgio Maggiore,	Facing [92]
	Pencil. 1819. (CLXXV. 46a.)
[LI.]	Rome, from Monte Mario,	Facing [93]
	Pencil and Water-Colour. 1819. (CLXXXIX. 33.)
[LII.]	Rome, from the Vatican,	Facing [94]
	Pen and ink and Chinese white on grey. 1819. (CLXXXIX. 41.)
[LIII.]	Trajan’s Column, in the Forum of Trajan,	Facing [95]
	Pencil. 1819. (CLXXXVIII. 48.)
[LIV.]	Study of Plants, Weeds, etc.,	Facing [96]
	Pencil. About 1823. (CCV. 1a.)
[LV.]	(a) Watchet, Somersetshire,	Facing [100]
	Pencil. About 1811. (CXXIII. 170a.)
	(b) Watchet, Somersetshire,	Facing [100]
	Engraving published in ‘The Southern Coast’, 1st April, 1820.
[LVI.]	(a) Boscastle, Cornwall,	Facing [101]
	Pencil. About 1811. (CXXIII. 182.)
	(b) Boscastle, Cornwall,	Facing [101]
	Engraving published in ‘The Southern Coast,’ 10th March, 1825.
[LVII.]	Hornby Castle, from Tatham Church,	Between [102-103]
	Pencil. About 1816. (CXLVII. 41a-42.)
[LVIII.]	Hornby Castle, from Tatham Church,	Between [102-103]
	Engraving, from the Water-Colour in the Victoria and Albert Museum, published in Whitaker’s ‘Richmondshire,’ June, 1822.
[LIX.]	(a) Heysham, with Black Combe, Coniston Old Man, Helvellyn, etc., in the distance,	Between [104]
	Pencil. About 1816. (CXLVII. 40a-41).
	(b) Heysham and Cumberland Mountains,	Between [104]
	Engraving published in Whitaker’s ‘Richmondshire,’ 22nd August, 1822.
[LX.]	(a) Edinburgh, from Calton Hill,	Between [106-107]
	Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 39a.)
	(b) Edinburgh, from the Calton Hill,	Between [106-107]
	Engraving published in Scott’s ‘Provincial Antiquities of Scotland,’ 1st November, 1820.
	(c) Edinburgh, from Calton Hill,	Between [106-107]
	Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 40.)
	(d) Figures on Calton Hill,	Between [106-107]
	Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 40a.)
[LXI.]	(a) Borthwick Castle,	Facing [107]
	Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 76.)
	(b) Borthwick Castle,	Facing [107]
	Engraving published in Scott’s ‘Provincial Antiquities ofScotland,’ 2nd April, 1819.
[LXII.]	(a) Rochester,	Between [108-109]
	Pencil. About 1821. (CXCIX. 18.)
	(b) Rochester,	Between [108-109]
	Pencil. About 1821. (CXCIX. 21.)
[LXIII.]	Rochester on the River Medway,	Between [108-109]
	Water-Colour. About 1822. (CCVIII. W.)
[LXIV.]	Bolton Abbey,	Between [110-111]
	Pencil. About 1815. (CXXXIV. 81-82.)
[LXV.]	Bolton Abbey,	Between [110-111]
	Engraving published in ‘Picturesque Views in England andWales,’ 1827.
[LXVI.]	(a) Colchester,	Between [110-111]
	Pencil. About 1824. (CCIX. 6a.)
	(b) Colchester,	Between [110-111]
	Pencil. About 1824. (CCIX. 7a.)
[LXVII.]	Colchester, Essex,	Between [110-111]
	Engraving, published in ‘Picturesque Views in England andWales,’ 1827.
[LXVIII.]	Stamford, Lincolnshire,	Between [112-113]
	Pencil. 1797. (XXXIV. 86.)
[LXIX.]	Stamford, Lincolnshire,	Between [112-113]
	Engraving published in ‘Picturesque Views in England andWales,’ 1830.
[LXX.]	(a) Tynemouth Priory,	Facing [113]
	Pencil, with part in Water-Colour, 1797. (XXXIV. 35.)
	(b) Tynemouth, Northumberland,	Facing [113]
	Engraving, published in ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales,’ 1831.
[LXXI.]	Bemerside Tower,	Between [118-119]
	Pencil. About 1831. (CCLXVII. 82a.)
[LXXII.]	Bemerside Tower,	Between [111-118]
	Engraving published in Scott’s ‘Poetical Works’ (Cadell),1834.
[LXXIII.]	Men chatting round Fireplace: Petworth House,	Facing [122]
	Water-Colour. About 1830. (CCXLIV. 82.)
[LXXIV.]	Teasing the Donkey: Petworth,	Facing [123]
	Water-Colour. About 1830. (CCXLIV. 97.)
[LXXV.]	Honfleur,	Facing [126]
	Water-Colour. About 1830. (CCLIX. 15.)
[LXXVI.]	Country Town on Stream,	Facing [127]
	Water-Colour. About 1830. (CCLIX. 16.)
[LXXVII.]	Sheep in the Trench,	Facing [128]
	Water-Colour. About 1830. (CCLIX. 17.)
[LXXVIII.]	Shipping on the Riva degli Schiavone,	Facing [129]
	Water-Colour. About 1839. (CCCXVI. 20.)
[LXXIX.]	The Approach to Venice: Sunset,	Facing [132]
	Water-Colour. About 1839. (CCCXVI. 16.)
[LXXX.]	Riva degli Schiavone, from near the Public Gardens,	Facing [133]
	Water-Colour. About 1839. (CCCXVI. 21.)
[LXXXI.]	Freiburg: The Descent from the Hôtel de Ville,	Facing [134]
	Water-Colour. About 1841. (CCCXXXV. 14.)
[LXXXII.]	Ruined Castle on Rock,	Facing [135]
	Water-Colour. About 1841. (CCCXXXIX. 5.)
[LXXXIII.]	Village and Castle on the Rhine,	Facing [140]
	Water-Colour. About 1844. (CCCXLIX. 22.)
[LXXXIV.]	The Via Mala,	Facing [141]
	Water-Colour. About 1844. (CCCLXIV. 362.)
[LXXXV.]	On the Rhine,	Facing [148]
	Water-Colour. 1844. (CCCXLIX. 20.)
[LXXXVI.]	Baden, looking North,	Facing [149]
	Water-Colour. 1844. (CCCXLIX. 14.)
[LXXXVII.]	Lucerne: Evening,	Facing [152]
	Water-Colour. 1844. (CCCXLIV. 324.)

TURNER’S SKETCHESAND DRAWINGS

CONTENTS

LIST OF PLATES

TURNER’S SKETCHES
AND DRAWINGS