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, _Facing_ 61
Pencil. About 1809. (CXIV. 72a-73)......_Facing_ 61 ....._Facing_ 61 (_b_) ‘Windmill and Lock,’....._Facing_ 61
Engraving published in ‘Liber Studiorum,’ 1st June, 1811......_Facing_ 61 (R. 27)......_Facing_ 61
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.)....._Facing_ 69
(_b_) Plan of Garden: Sandycombe Lodge,....._Facing_ 69
Pen and Ink. About 1812. (CXXVII. 21a.)....._Facing_ 69
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_ 8O
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, }
Pencil. About 1811. (CXXIII. 170a.) }
(_b_) Watchet, Somersetshire, }....._Facing_ 100
Engraving published in ‘The Southern Coast’, 1st April, } 1820. }
LVI. (_a_) Boscastle, Cornwall, }
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, } } Pencil. About 1816. (CXLVII. 40a-41). } } _Facing_ 104 (_b_) Heysham and Cumberland Mountains, } } Engraving published in Whitaker’s ‘Richmondshire,’ 22nd } August, 1822. }
LX. (_a_) Edinburgh, from Calton Hill, } } Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 39a.) } } (_b_) Edinburgh, from the Calton Hill, } } Engraving published in Scott’s ‘Provincial Antiquities } of Scotland,’ 1st November, 1820. } _Between_ } 106-107 (_c_) Edinburgh, from Calton Hill, } } Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 40.) } } (_d_) Figures on Calton Hill, } } Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 40a.) }
LXI. (_a_) Borthwick Castle, } } Pencil. 1818. (CLXVII. 76.) } } (_b_) Borthwick Castle, } _Facing_ 107 } Engraving published in Scott’s ‘Provincial Antiquities of } Scotland,’ 2nd April, 1819. }
LXII. (_a_) Rochester, } } Pencil. About 1821. (CXCIX. 18.) } } _Between_ (_b_) Rochester, } 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 and Wales,’ 1827.
LXVI. (_a_) Colchester, } } Pencil. About 1824. (CCIX. 6a.) } } _Between_ (_b_) Colchester, } 110-111 } Pencil. About 1824. (CCIX. 7a.) }
LXVII. Colchester, Essex,....._Between_ 110-111
Engraving, published in ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales,’ 1827.
LXVIII. Stamford, Lincolnshire,....._Between_ 112-113
Pencil. 1797. (XXXIV. 86.)
LXIX. Stamford, Lincolnshire,....._Between_ 112-113
Engraving published in ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales,’ 1830.
LXX. (_a_) Tynemouth Priory, } } 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 SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS
INTRODUCTORY
The nature of our subject-matter--The difference between sketches and finished works--The character of our subject-matter, as embryonic forms of artistic expression, prescribes the method of study we must adopt--Our method is broadly chronological--But to follow Turner’s work year by year in detail would carry us beyond the limits of our present undertaking--I have, therefore, broken up Turner’s career into eight stages or phases of development.
The object of the following pages is to re-study the character of Turner’s art in the light of his sketch-books and drawings from nature.
During Turner’s lifetime his rooted objection to part with any of his sketches, studies, or notes often formed the subject of ill-natured comment. Yet we owe it to this peculiarity that the drawings and sketches included in the Turner Bequest at the National Gallery comprise practically the whole of the great landscape painter’s work done direct from nature. The collection is, therefore, of very great psychological interest. It shows clearly upon what basis of immediately presentative elements the airy splendour of Turner’s richly imaginative art was built: and amongst the twenty odd thousand sheets of drawings in all stages of elaboration, the embryonic forms of most of the painter’s masterpieces can be easily traced.
A careful examination of the drawings shows that Turner’s objection to part with his sketches and notes was not the outcome of a blind and deeply ingrained passion for accumulation, but that it was the necessary result of the painter’s clearly defined conception of the radical difference between the raw material of the painter’s art, and its fully articulated products--the difference between mere sketches and studies and fugitive memoranda, and the fully elaborated works of art to which such preliminaries are subservient, but with which they should never be confused. From Turner’s point of view the properly finished pictures were all that the public had a right to see or possess; the notes and studies were meant only for his own eye. Even in his later years, when he consented to exhibit what he expressly called a ‘record’ of a scene he had witnessed, he grumbled when it was admired and treated as a picture, although in this case the ‘record’ was not a hurried memorandum, but a fully elaborated attempt ‘to show what such a scene was like.’[1]
The method of our study must be determined by the general character of our subject-matter. Our main business is with fragmentary records, hurried memoranda, half-formed thoughts, and tentative designs. We must not and cannot treat these dependent and embryonic fragments as independent entities; we cannot pick and choose amongst them, or love or dislike them entirely for their own sakes, as we can with complete works of art which contain within themselves the grounds of their own justification or insufficiency. To grasp the significance of our sketches and studies we must study the goal towards which they are striving. We must not be content to admire even the most beautiful of these sketches entirely for its own sake, but must study them for the sake of their connection with the works which they were instrumental in producing.
These considerations have also weighed with me in the selection of the numerous illustrations with which the publishers have generously enriched this volume. On the whole I have chosen the illustrations rather for the light they throw on Turner’s conception of art and methods of work than for their own individual attractiveness; but the glamour of execution is so invariably present in all that came from Turner’s hand, that few of these drawings will be found which do not possess a very powerful aesthetic appeal of their own.
In dealing with Turner’s work from the point of view I have indicated, we are forced to touch upon problems which the prudent art critic is apt to avoid. In studying the relation between the preliminary sketches and studies and the finished works into which they were developed, we find ourselves plunged into the midst of some of the most baffling difficulties of psychology and aesthetic. In attempting even to describe the relation between the more rudimentary and the more fully articulated processes of artistic expression, we are forced, whether we like it or not, to face the problems of the relation between form and content, between treatment and subject, between portrayal and portrayed; and we cannot go far without finding ourselves obliged to reconsider the common-sense ideas of Truth, Nature, and Art. We cannot avoid such problems if we would. If I face them, therefore, instead of emulating the discretion of my elders, it is, I am sure, from no ingrained love of abstractions, but rather from an overpowering interest in all the concrete forms of pictorial art.
The separation of aesthetic from art-criticism which is so much favoured at present, though it eases the labour of thought both to the art-critic and to his readers, seems to me otherwise inexcusable and fraught with serious artistic and intellectual dangers. Art-criticism cut adrift from general principles cannot help degenerating into a blatant form of self-assertion or an immoral form of practical casuistry--a finding of good reasons for anything you have a mind to; and aesthetic, divorced from all living contact with the concrete phenomena of art, is one of the dullest as well as the most useless of studies. But this is not the place to set forth in detail or defend my conception of the function and methods of art-criticism. I will merely say that I regard it as a form of rational investigation of the phenomena of pictorial art; it has no immediate practical aim; and it does not propose to prolong or intensify the enjoyment which works of art provide.
We find then that we cannot study Turner’s sketches in isolation from his finished works. But to follow his completed work year by year in detail would obviously carry us beyond the limits of our present undertaking. I have, therefore, broken up Turner’s career into eight facets or aspects. In the first