CONCLUSION.
There can be no doubt that the money spent by Mr. Walter Fawkes upon Turner’s drawings and paintings was well expended. Regarded merely as an investment, it was extremely profitable. The drawing of Mont Blanc, from the Val d’Aosta (24), for which Mr. Fawkes paid fifty guineas, was sold for a thousand guineas in 1890; that of Windermere (88), which cost twenty-five guineas, was sold at the same time for twelve hundred guineas: and the auction price of Turner’s work has doubled, and sometimes trebled, since 1890. Roughly speaking, Mr. Fawkes spent about three thousand pounds on the collection, and its market price to-day is certainly not less than a hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
But the real value of such a collection cannot be estimated in terms of pounds, shillings and pence. The influence exerted by these lovely records of Farnley Hall and the neighbouring country upon Mr. Fawkes’s family and descendants has been more precious than gold. They have dignified and hallowed the ancestral home and lands, refined and educated the taste of all who have been privileged to live among them, and they have made the name of Walter Fawkes for ever memorable in the annals of British Art.
CONTENTS.
| ARTICLES. | |
|---|---|
| PAGE | |
| Turner’s personal relations with Mr. W. Fawkes | [1] |
| Turner’s relations with Mr. H. Fawkes | [17] |
| The Farnley Hall Collection | [18] |
| Conclusion | [28] |
The Editor desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. F. H. Fawkes, the present owner of Farnley Hall, who has kindly placed at his disposal the beautiful drawings by Turner reproduced in this work.
BONNEVILLE, SAVOY.
CIRCA 1808. SIZE 11” × 15⅜".
The “Liber Studiorum” plate (R. 64), published January 1, 1816, was founded on this design. The plate, which was engraved from a sepia drawing, shows several slight variations from the water-colour; the buildings in the centre and the bridge on the right are heightened, the stick leaning on the blue and white bundle in the foreground has been omitted, the hat of the girl resting on a stone on the left has been taken off, the figure of a boy added, and a group of sheep substituted for the herd of goats in the centre.
THE VALLEY OF THE WHARFE, FROM CALEY PARK.
CIRCA 1816-1818. SIZE 11¾” × 17½".
This drawing is executed in body-colour on brown paper. It represents one of the views in the neighbourhood of Farnley Hall. The River Wharfe winds through the valley in the middle distance. On the left, the junction with the Washburne is shown; on the right, in the distance, is Poole Bridge. Above the junction of the Wharfe and the Washburne, Leathley Church and village are seen, and beyond them the gaunt shoulders of Great Alms Cliff appear above the horizon.
THE VALLEY OF CHAMOUNIX.
SIGNED AND DATED “J. M. W. TURNER, R.A., P.P., 1809 (?)” SIZE 11¼’ × 15⅝".
Made from sketches executed during Turner’s first visit to Switzerland in 1802. The snow-capped mountains in the distance no doubt belong to the chain of Mont Blanc.
SCARBOROUGH TOWN AND CASTLE: MORNING. BOYS COLLECTING CRABS.
CIRCA 1809. SIZE 27” × 40".
Turner exhibited a drawing with this title at the Royal Academy, 1811, but it is uncertain whether it was this drawing or the one now in the Wallace Collection. The latter is signed and dated “J. M. W. Turner, R.A., 1809.”
INTERIOR OF ST. PETER’S, ROME.
SIGNED AND DATED “J. M. W. TURNER, 1820.” SIZE 11½” × 16½".
One of Turner’s first Italian drawings from his own sketches, the illustrations to Hakewill’s “Italy” having been made before Turner visited Italy, from camera obscura tracings made by Hakewill.
THE STRID, BOLTON WOODS.
CIRCA 1811. SIZE 11¼” × 15½".
The pencil-drawing on which this is based is in the National Gallery (“Farnley and related subjects,” CLIV, U.). A beautifully balanced and complete design, without any sacrifice of local truth.
THE PASSAGE OF MONT CENIS.
SIGNED “J. M. W. TURNER” AND INSCRIBED “PASSAGE OF MT. CENIS, JAN. 15, 1820.”
SIZE 11¼” × 15¾".
An incident Turner witnessed on his return from his first visit to Italy. The snow made it difficult to cross the Alps at that time of the year. His sketch-book, “Return from Italy” (CXCII), is full of rough pencil-sketches of the snow and storm effects. Among some hasty scribbles on one page appear the following memoranda:—“Men shovelling away snow from the carriage—Women and children hugging(?)—The sky pink—The light and the cast shadows rather warm—Trees are all covered with the snow—The trees in the distance and wood getting darker.” This is one of the most beautiful and impressive of the Farnley drawings.
A FIRST-RATER TAKING IN STORES.
SIGNED AND DATED “J. M. W. TURNER, 1818.” SIZE 11¼” × 15½".
This is the drawing Turner is said to have begun and finished one morning at Farnley, between breakfast and lunch. There had been some talk at breakfast between Mr. Fawkes and Turner about the relative sizes of small sailing-craft and men-of-war. After breakfast, Turner said to young Hawksworth Fawkes that he would make a drawing to illustrate what they had been talking about. The boy sat beside him for three hours while the drawing was being made, the artist, says Thornbury, “tearing up the sea with the eagle-claw of his thumbnail, and working like a madman; yet the detail is full and delicate, betraying no sign of hurry.” This story has been frequently repeated, but it is hard, with the exquisitely finished and elaborate drawing in front of one, to accept it without considerable reservation.
THE GREAT FALL OF THE REICHENBACH; IN THE VALLEY OF HASLE, SWITZERLAND.
SIGNED AND DATED “J. M. W. TURNER, R.A., 1804.” SIZE 40” × 27".
Painted from sketches made in 1802. Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1815, under the above title, together with two other Farnley drawings, viz., The Passage of Mount St. Gothard and Lake of Lucerne.
CONISTON LAKE AND OLD MAN.
CIRCA 1816-1818. SIZE 19½” × 25½".
This drawing is executed in body-colour on brown paper. Mr. Ruskin’s house and grounds stand not far from the spot from which it was made.
THE BANKS OF THE WASHBURNE.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 13¼” × 16¼".
This drawing is executed in body-colour on brown paper. It shows a bend of the Washburne about a mile from Farnley Hall. Leathley Church stands a little to the left, just out of the picture. In the distance is seen the rocky crest of the Otley Chevin, with Caley Park on the slopes below. The banks are now covered with a dense growth of trees, entirely obliterating the view of the river. This drawing is based on a small pencil-sketch in the “Hastings” sketch-book (CXXXIX, pp. 35a & 36).
THE LAKE OF BRIENZ—MOONLIGHT.
SIGNED “J. M. W. TURNER, R.A.” CIRCA 1804. SIZE 11” × 15½".
The pencil-sketch of this view, made in Switzerland in 1802, is in the National Gallery (LXXVII, p. 34). It has an “F” written in ink in the corner, evidently put there when Mr. Fawkes ordered this drawing. There is also a colour-study in the same collection (LXXX, E.). The blue has slightly faded in this drawing, but the general effect remains harmonious and very impressive.
BOLTON ABBEY, FROM THE SOUTH.
CIRCA 1812. SIGNED “J. M. W. TURNER, R.A.” SIZE 11¼” × 15½".
There are a number of pencil-drawings of Bolton Abbey in the “Devonshire Rivers, No. 3, and Wharfedale” sketch-book (cxxxiv). The water-mark of this sketch-book is 1811, so the date of the sketches may be a year or two later.
THE COLOSSEUM, ROME.
INSCRIBED AND SIGNED “COLLICEUM, ROME, J. M. W. TURNER, 1820.” SIZE 11” × 15½".
Based on the pencil-drawing (“Rome: C. Studies,” CLXXXIX, p. 23) made in Rome in 1819.
HIRZENACH.
DATE 1817. SIZE 8⅜” × 12½".
One of the Rhine series. This drawing is executed in water-colour on white paper, but a grey preparation was washed over the paper before the painting was commenced.
Hirzenach is near St. Goar, where Turner is known to have been on the 23rd, 24th and 27th of August, 1817. There are sketches of Hirzenach and the neighbourhood in the “Waterloo and Rhine” sketch-book (CXL).
UPPER FALLS OF THE REICHENBACH: RAINBOW.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 11⅛” × 15¾".
The white line of the falls is seen on the left in shadow, contrasting with the warm sunlight on the rock in the centre of design. The rainbow on the right is formed by the spray of the falls. In foreground, on left, just below the falls, are a peasant girl and dog (the white dress of the girl and the white dog are dug out with the penknife). An exquisitely delicate drawing, full of subtleties of form and colour.
THE WASHBURNE, WITH LEATHLEY CHURCH.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 12” × 16¾".
This drawing is executed in body-colour on brown paper. The River Washburne, with water-mill, is seen in the foreground, Leathley Church on the hill in the middle-distance, and the Otley Chevin, with Caley Park, beyond. The steep wooded bank on the right of the river in the middle-distance is the scene of the drawing The Banks of the Washburne (Plate XI). The drawing of The Valley of the Washburne, and Lindley Bridge (Plate XIX) was made from a spot near the mill in the foreground, looking towards the right.
MAYENCE AND KASTEL.
DATE 1817. SIZE 811/16” × 14⅝".
One of the Rhine drawings. The dark cloud in the centre is an instance of Turner’s wonderful technical daring and resource, the effect being obtained by the use of wet, running colour. Turner was at Mayence on 24th and 25th August, 1817.
THE VALLEY OF THE WASHBURNE, AND LINDLEY BRIDGE.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 10¾” × 15½".
A view of the Washburne looking north towards Stainburn, taken from a spot near the water-mill shown in the foreground of The Washburne, with Leathley Church (Plate XVII). Lindley Hall appears on the eminence to the right. This drawing is now in the possession of Colonel Lionel G. Fawkes.
THE RIALTO, VENICE.
CIRCA 1820. SIZE 11¼” × 16⅜".
This drawing is frequently mistaken for the original of the engraving of the same subject published in Hakewill’s “Italy” (Rawlinson’s “Engraved Work of J. M. W. Turner,” p. 80), but the differences between the drawing and the engraving are too marked and extensive for this to be possible. The Hakewill drawing was made before Turner visited Venice, from camera obscura sketches by Hakewill. The Farnley drawing was made immediately after Turner’s return from Italy in 1820, from his own sketches. It is interesting as being Turner’s first Venetian picture.
SOONECK, WITH BACHARACH IN THE DISTANCE.
DATE 1817. SIZE 815/16” × 14½".
The slender tower of Sooneck, commanding the entrance to a ravine, stands on the left; beyond it, in shadow, rise the ruins of Fürstenberg. Opposite the Fürstenberg, on the right bank of the Wisper, which fells into the Rhine here, stands the ruined castle of Nollich. The rugged cliff on this side of the Rhine is called the “Devil’s Ladder.”
OTLEY, FROM THE CHEVIN.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 11” × 15½".
From the deer park on the Otley Chevin we look down on the houses and church of Otley, the “metropolis of Wharfedale,” as its inhabitants call it. Beyond, the Wharfe winds away towards Ilkley and Bolton, and on the left may be seen the Cow and Calf Rocks at Ben Rhydding.
This is one of the most poetical and exquisitely finished drawings of the Wharfedale series.
JOHANNISBERG.
DATE 1817. SIZE 815/16” × 13½".
Schloss Johannisberg stands on a vine-clad eminence in the centre of the drawing; and on the bank, a little to the right, is seen Winkel.
LINDLEY BRIDGE AND HALL.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 12” × 17½".
A nearer view of Lindley Bridge than that in Plate XIX. The Lindley Wood Reservoir has now been formed just above the bridge.
ABBEY OF BINGEN, LOOKING TOWARDS LAKE.
DATE 1817. SIZE 8” × 11½".
The ruins of the old collegiate church are seen on the right, and beyond, the “Bridge of Drusus,” crossing the River Nahe.
NORHAM CASTLE.
CIRCA 1823. SIZE 7½” × 5⅝".
One of the illustrations to the “Three Poets in three different Kingdoms born,” viz., Scott, Byron, and Moore.
THE CARRIAGE DRIVE, FARNLEY.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 11¾” × 16".
The two oaks in the foreground, with fragments of their seats, are still to be found half-way up the carriage drive; but the trees round them have grown so that they shut out the distant view of the river and Otley Bridge. Otley Church appears in the middle distance on the left in the drawing.
FISH MARKET ON THE ENGLISH COAST.
SIGNED AND DATED “J. M. W. TURNER, R.A., P.P., 1818.” SIZE 11” × 15⅜".
A slightly different version in oils of this design, known as Fish Market at Hastings, was painted some years earlier for Mr. Jack Fuller. It was sold at Christie’s recently in the Acland-Hood sale.
FROM RHEINFELS, LOOKING OVER ST. GOAR TO KATZ.
DATE 1817. SIZE 7⅞” × 12⅜".
The town of St. Goar lies stretched out at our feet. Across the river are seen St. Goarshausen and the ruined castle of the Cat (Katz), half-way up the hill above it. A curious morning effect, before the sun has dispelled the vapours rising from the river.
LAKE TINY, FARNLEY, WITH ALMIAS CLIFF IN DISTANCE.
CIRCA 1818. SIZE 13½” × 17".
View looking north-east from Farnley Park. Almias Cliff is just visible in the distance on the left. On the right appears the group of trees on the slope of the hill just above Leathley Church.
