Watercolor, graphite, scraping and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 5/8 x 17 1/2in. (29.5 x 44.5cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in pen and black ink, center left: "ichardson"; scratched center: "Thomas' | Toys"; in brushed red watercolor, lower left: "TRY the RED LION | WB not better under | the SUN"; in brushed blue watercolor, lower right: "STAFFORDSHIRE WA"; inscribed in graphite, verso, on mount, upper center: "20 1/8 x 28 1/2"; in graphite, verso, center: "4"; in graphite, verso, center right: (upside down) "26 x 19"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Guildford | Surrey | Europe | United Kingdom | England
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)Turner's Modern World (Kimbell Art Museum, 2021-10-17 - 2022-02-06)Turner's Modern World (Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 2022-03-27 - 2022-07-10)Romantic Watercolor : Exhibition Watercolors & Technique (Yale Center for British Art, 2002-10-10 - 2003-01-05)Turner's Watercolour Explorations - 1818 - 1838 (Tate Britain, 1997-02-25 - 1997-06-08)Translations - Turner and Printmaking (Yale Center for British Art, 1993-09-29 - 1993-12-05)
Publications:
Eric M. Lee, Translations : Turner and printmaking, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1993, p. 23, no. 71, NJ18 .T85 L44 1993 (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 398, no. 837, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
As with many of his earlier topographical views, Turner combines antiquarian and modern subject matter: St. Catherine’s Hill was the site of a ruined medieval chapel and also of a thriving local fair. Turner combines both into a single visual whole. Under banks of soaring blue-gray clouds, the seething crowd climbs the hill between the ranks of stalls and attractions. Both culminate in the ruined, brightly illuminated hulk of the ancient chapel. The vertiginously sweeping lines and almost supernatural light give the image a dreamlike quality, forming a striking contrast with the freshness and literalness of the earlier Leeds (displayed nearby). Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)