J M W Turner - Picturesque Views in England and Wales

Picturesque views in

England & Wales ďƒ§

J M W TURNER

Probably no painter before him – unless possibly Rubens – ever so completely controlled the engraving of his own pictures, or ever set himself to educate the engravers who worked for him; certainly none ever bestowed the same infinite pains on every detail of every plate.

W. G. Rawlinson

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J M W TURNER Picturesque Views in England and Wales

For many people Turner is the most creative genius in the history of British art particularly with regard to his landscapes and topographical views. Around the turn of the years 1824-25 he agreed with the print-publisher Charles Heath to produce an ambitious series of drawings and watercolours after which engravings would be issued under the title Picturesque Views in England and Wales. Initially the proposal was that 120 engravings would be made in collaboration with Robert Jennings & Co. and the first prints appeared in 1827 followed by others at regular intervals over the next eleven years.

A highly skilled team of experienced engravers was involved in producing the

printing plates, perhaps most notably Thomas Jeavons, Robert William Wallis, James Tibbitts Willmore and W. R. Smith, but a crucial factor in the artistic success of the resulting prints was undoubtedly the close personal attention and supervision of Turner himself during the etching/engraving process.

Eventually, in 1838, the scheme was found to be commercially unsustainable but by then some 96 engravings had been published and the prints offered here are from an edition of Picturesque Views issued in that year. Turner received tremendous support from the great art critic John Ruskin both during his lifetime and afterwards, when the work of the former was often

J M W TURNER

1. Bedford

2. Windsor Castle, Berkshire

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

misunderstood, and he referred to the pictures for Picturesque Views as representing Turner’s central powers and dominant feelings . . . towards his native country.

Later in the same book (Turner Prints, 1990) Herrmann added . . . today it has firm claims to be considered the outstanding topographical print publication of the nineteenth century.

Somewhat later, writing in 1913, W. G. Rawlinson called Picturesque Views, the most brilliant and finished piece of landscape engraving which up to that time had ever been produced. This opinion was endorsed almost eighty years later by the leading Turner expert Professor Luke Herrmann who wrote, despite its commercial failure the ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales’ was an undoubted triumph from the artistic point of view, and it has always been considered one of the greatest series of prints after Turner.

On Turner’s insistence the images were engraved on copper rather than the more hard wearing steel, on account of its ability to render particularly fine lines and subtle tones. The softness of the copper meant that the plates were quickly worn down and had to be frequently reworked – an expensive business.

All engravings are approx 16 x 24 cms.

PRICE £495 EACH including frame, vat and uk delivery

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3. Ludlow Castle, Shropshire

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

4. Plymouth, Devonshire

5. Salisbury, Wiltshire

6. Richmond Hill and Bridge, Surrey

7. Chatham, Kent

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8. Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland

9. Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire

10. Lyme Regis

11. Blenheim House, Oxfordshire

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PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

12. Castle Upnor, Kent

13. Laugharne Castle, Caermarthenshire

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14. Tynemouth Priory, Northumberland

15. Gosport, Hampshire

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

16. Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire

17. Buckfastleigh Abbey, Devonshire

18. Malmsbury Abbey, Wiltshire

19. Okehampton, Devonshire

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20. Crickieth Castle, North Wales

21. Rochester, Stroud and Chatham, Kent

22. Walton Bridge, Surrey

23. Richmond Terrace, Surrey

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

24. Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire

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25. Ullswater, Cumberland

26. Long Ships Lighthouse, Land's End

27. Beaumaris, Anglesea, North Wales

28. Worcester, Worcestershire

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PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

29. Lowestoffe, Suffolk

30. Margate, Kent

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31. Warwick Castle, Warwickshire

32. Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

33. Nottingham

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34. Carisbrook Castle, Isle of Wight

35. Devonport and Dock Yard, Devonshire

36. Cowes, Isle of Wight

37. Dunstanborough Castle, Northumberland

Nineteen engravers were eventually employed on this work and some engraved as many as thirteen or fourteen of the plates, while others worked on only one.

Included in the group were Miller, Willmore, Goodall, Brandard and Wallis, whom Turner considered to be the best engravers of his work (along with John Pye). The work was long and tedious, and although the engravers were paid, on average, one hundred pounds for each plate engraved, the task might take up to two years: ‘. . . few have lived more solitary or more laborious lives. Bending double all through a bright, sunny day, in an attic or close work-room, over a large plate, with a powerful magnifying glass in constant use; carefully picking and cutting out bits of metal from the plate, and giving the painfully formed lines the ultimate form of some of Turner's most brilliant conceptions; working for twelve or fourteen hours daily, taking exercise rarely, in early morning or late at night; ‘proving’ a plate, only to find days of labour have been mistaken, and have to be effaced and done over again . . . such is too commonly the life of an engraver.’ (C. W. Radcliffe)

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38. Llandberis Lake, Wales

39. Leicester Abbey, Leicestershire

40. Caernarvon Castle, Wales

41. Dudley, Worcestershire

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

42. Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire

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43. Whitehaven, Cumberland

44. Lancaster, from the Aqueduct Bridge

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

45. Lancaster Sands, Lancaster

46. Winchelsea, Sussex

47. Kilgarren Castle, Pembroke, South Wales

48. Exeter

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49. Harlech Castle, North Wales

50. Flint Castle, North Wales

51. Kidwelly Castle, South Wales

52. Keswick Lake, Cumberland

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

53. Boston, Lincolnshire

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54. Llangollen, North Wales

56. Winander Mere, Westmoreland

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55. Durham Cathedral

57. Bernard Castle, Durham

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PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

58. Christ Church College, Oxford

59. Eton College, Berkshire

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60. Saltash, Cornwall

61. Aldborough, Suffolk

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

62. Louth, Lincolnshire

63. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

64. Stone Henge

65. Hampton Court Palace

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66. Carew Castle, Pembroke

67. Pembroke Castle, Wales

68. Powys Castle, Montgomery

69. Arundel Castle and Town, Sussex

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

70. Coventry, Warwickshire

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71. Entrance to Fowey Harbour, Cornwall

72. St. Mawes, Cornwall

PICTURESQUE VIEWS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

73. Stamford, Lincolnshire

74. Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

75. Holy Island, Northumberland

76. Stonyhurst, Lancashire

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77. Mount St. Michael, Cornwall

78. Orford, Suffolk

79. Straits of Dover

80. Prudhoe Castle, Northumberland

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ENGRAVINGS 61.

74.

69.

24.

27.

1.

57.

11.

53.

8.

17.

40.

66.

34.

12.

7.

20.

58.

70.

36.

35.

41.

37.

55.

71.

42.

59.

Aldborough, Suffolk Alnwick Castle, Northumberland Arundel Castle and Town, Sussex Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire Beaumaris, Anglesea, North Wales Bedford, Bedfordshire Bernard Castle, Durham Blenheim House, Oxfordshire Boston, Lincolnshire Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland Buckfastleigh Abbey, Devonshire Caernarvon Castle, Wales Carew Castle, Pembroke Carisbrook Castle, Isle of Wight Castle Upnor, Kent Chatham, Kent Crickieth Castle, North Wales Christ Church College, Oxford Coventry, Warwickshire Cowes, Isle of Wight Devonport and Dock Yard, Devonshire Dudley, Worcestershire Dunstanborough Castle, Northumberland Durham Cathedral Entrance to Fowey Harbour, Cornwall Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire Eton College, Berkshire

48.

50.

81.

15.

63.

65.

49.

75.

32.

52.

51.

47.

44.

45.

13.

39.

38.

54.

26.

62.

29.

3.

10.

18.

30.

77.

33.

Exeter Flint Castle, North Wales Folkestone, Kent Gosport, Hampshire Great Yarmouth, Norfolk Hampton Court Palace Harlech Castle, North Wales Holy Island, Northumberland Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire Keswick Lake, Cumberland Kidwelly Castle, South Wales Kilgarren Castle, Pembroke, South Wales Lancaster, from the Aqueduct Bridge Lancaster Sands, Lancaster Laugharne Castle, Caermarthenshire Leicester Abbey, Leicestershire Llandberis Lake, Wales Llangollen, North Wales Long Ships Lighthouse, Land's End Louth, Lincolnshire Lowestoffe, Suffolk Ludlow Castle, Shropshire Lyme Regis Malmsbury Abbey, Wiltshire Margate, Kent Mount St. Michael, Cornwall Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

19.

78.

67.

4.

68.

80.

6.

23.

21.

5.

60.

73.

72.

64.

76.

79.

9.

14.

25.

16.

22.

31.

43.

56.

46.

2.

28.

Okehampton, Devonshire Orford, Suffolk Pembroke Castle, Wales Plymouth, Devonshire Powys Castle, Montgomery Prudhoe Castle, Northumberland Richmond Hill and Bridge, Surrey Richmond Terrace, Surrey Rochester, Stroud and Chatham, Kent Salisbury, Wiltshire Saltash, Cornwall Stamford, Lincolnshire St. Mawes, Cornwall Stone Henge Stonyhurst, Lancashire Straits of Dover Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire Tynemouth Priory, Northumberland Ullswater, Cumberland Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire Walton Bridge, Surrey Warwick Castle, Warwickshire Whitehaven, Cumberland Winander Mere, Westmoreland Winchelsea, Sussex Windsor Castle, Berkshire Worcester, Worcestershire

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81. Folkestone, Kent

Goldmark Gallery, Orange Street, Uppingham, Rutland, LE15 9SQ Open Monday to Saturday 9.30 - 5.30, Sunday 2.30 - 5.30 and Bank Holidays www.goldmarkart.com