Dartmoor: The Source of the Tamar and the Torridge
Date:
ca. 1813
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor, gouache, graphite, and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 7 7/8 x 12 5/8 inches (20 x 32.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.4689
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
donkey | landscape | genre subject | kilns | washing | women | smoke | river
Associated Places:
Europe | United Kingdom | England | Tamar | Devon | Torridge | Dartmoor
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)Translations - Turner and Printmaking (Yale Center for British Art, 1993-09-29 - 1993-12-05)Oil on Water - Oil Sketches by British Watercolorists (Yale Center for British Art, 1986-08-26 - 1986-11-09)Presences of Nature - British Landscape 1780-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-10-20 - 1983-02-27)English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17)
Publications:
A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours from the collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1964, no. 32, N5247.M385 L62 (YCBA)Malcolm Cormack, Oil on water : oil sketches by British watercolorists, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1986, p. 57, fig. 64, ND467 C67 (YCBA)Louis Hawes, Presences of Nature : British Landscape, 1780-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1982, pp. 80, 182, no. V.8, pl. 65, ND1354.4 H38 (YCBA)Eric M. Lee, Translations : Turner and printmaking, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1993, pp. 6, 19, no. 46, NJ18 .T85 L44 1993 (YCBA)Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, p. 95, no. 147, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 350, no. 443, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Yale University Art Gallery, English drawings and watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, April 15-June 20,1965, , New Haven, 1965, no. 32, NC228 Y34 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Harlech Castle was built by King Edward I to help control Wales after its conquest in the thirteenth century. Its strong historical associations and romantically ruined appearance made it a typically “picturesque” subject for an architectural topographer. Far from dominating the image, however, the castle is portrayed in the distance — a departure from topographical traditions that is paralleled in the image’s lack of minute architectural detail. Even more remarkable, however, is the scene of modern industry, in the form of a shipbuilder’s yard, to the right. This presents a striking and innovative contrast with the ancient castle on the other side of the river, which perhaps symbolizes the imperturbable flow of time itself. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)