ROCK-COMPLEX EVIDENCE ~O~ The discovery of JMW Turner's oil on canvas exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793 ~O~ ROCK-COMPLEX EVIDENCE
Watercolour D00389 was preceded by a sketch (D00074) which does not include the rock complex - prima facie evidence that the rock complex was Turner's (later) addition or invention*[2]. The sketch can be dated to 1791, whilst Turner was in Bristol, supported by inscriptions in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook'.*[1]
The watercolour at around 7" x 10" is smaller than the oil which was about 15" x 20" now reduced to 14" x 19". The sketch, D00074, is dated to 1791 and the watercolour 'slightly later' *[1]. This information starts a chronology of events leading up to the painting of the 'The St. Vincent's Rock Oil'.*[3]
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*Footnotes:
*[1] Precursor Sketch D00074
Sketch D00074, now called 'The Hot Wells, Clifton' was inscribed by Turner as 'The Back View of the Hot Wells from the Gloucestershire Side'. It is bound in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook', Fo.3 Recto, which is dated to 1791 by another inscription (D00104, also bound in the sketchbook). Turner, aged 16, visited his father's friends, the Narraways, in Bristol in 1791.
Please read the Tate Turner Project entries (google search 'tate turner
D00074' etc.)
Footnotes, cont...
*[2] Examples that may have influencd Turner's impression of St. Vincent's Rock.
The rock complex does not appear in D00074 or any other work in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook'*[4]. Turner may have been influenced by earlier artists eg:
the contours and shape of the dome, however, are quite different. Turner seems to have his own unique interpretation in D00389 which is repeated in 'The St. Vincent's Rock Oil'*[5].
NM849 may have been early enough to influence Turner in 1791/2 but its date is uncertain and no exhibition history is available There is no suggestion that either Fitz347 or NM849 are based on St. Vincent's Rock.
Footnotes, cont...
*[3] Chronology of Events Leading Up To the Painting of 'The St. Vincent's Rock Oil'
23 April 1775 Turner birth
23 April 1791 Turner 16th birthday
1791 Turner Visits Narraways in Bristol
1791 Turner sketched D00074 in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury
Sketchbook'
1791 Turner returned to London
1791 (a) Turner painted two small
watercolours based on his visit to Bristol D00389 and D00391
(b)
Notes on the chronology
(a) 1791 or 1792. The
order of D00389 and D00391 is not clear but they both include the dome
rock.
(b) The chronology will be expanded in later
notes.
Footnotes, cont...
*[4] Study of Rocks in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook'
If the rock complex was real and was located at St. Vincent's Rock one would expect a sketch in the Bristol and Malmesbury Sketchbook These are folios with rock drawings but they do not resemble the St. Vincent's Rock rock complex in D00389.
B+M Fo
03R thehot wells clifton 1791 D00074_E.jpg
B+M Fo 04R study of a rocky cliff D00075_E.jpg
B+M Fo 05R a rocky islet with a ruined arch
D00076_E.jpg
B+M Fo 06R avon gorge sailing ship
D00078_E.jpg
B+M Fo 07V a rocky islet with a ruined chapel
D00080_E.jpg
B+M Fo 10V a ruined chapel on an islet
D00084_E.jpg
B+M Fo 15V rocks by the severn D00092_E.jpg
B+M Fo 18V rocks with a cart and boat by
severn D00098_E.jpg
These are illustrated here but please refer to the Tate Turner Project for better and larger illustrations. (Search (google) 'tate turner d00076' etc. or go to 'project overview' and select Bristol and Malmesbury. Please use another device whilst continuing to view this page.)
D00075 Fo 04R is quite evocative of the overhanging rock but lacks any
real overhanging features. There is no impression of any dome rock.
D00076 Fo 05R shows big rocks and boats but nothing resembling the
rock complex.
D00078 Fo 06R again nothing remotely resembling the rock complex.
D00080 Fo 07V no suggestion of the rock complex or either component.
D00084 Fo 10V no suggestion of the rock complex or either component.
D00092 Fo 15V these are rocks by the Severn. There are some slightly
overhanging rocks; different to the rock complex but possibly indicating
the emergence of an idea. The composition of this sketch also seems to
show some connection to 'The St. Vincent's Rock Oil'. This is much gentler
- there is no rising squall. There is however a boat laying listed to the
right.
D00098 Fo 18V like D00092 this is the Severn and similarly there are
some overhanging rocks, this time on the left of the composition.
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