LITERARY EVIDENCE ~O~ The discovery of JMW Turner's oil on canvas exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793 ~O~ LITERARY EVIDENCE

To Determine The Identity of JMW Turner's 1793 Exhibit In The Anti-Room
Literary Evidence

Abstract

In the early 2000s, as part of the 'Turner Project', Tate Britain published two pages on the internet describing two works by JMW Turner. These two pages were references to exhibits said to have been in the 1793 Royal Academy Exhibition.

• One is a reference to a watercolour-drawing (approx 14" x 16") said to be 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol', Various studies since have established that this watercolour is not 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' but do not appear to have resolved matters relating to the true identity of 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'. Its exhibition number would place it in the Library.
• The other is said to be 'View of the River Avon, near St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'. This also is described as a watercolour-drawing (approx 7" x 9"). The exhibition number for this exhibit would place it in the Anti-Room (sic), the grand entrance to the Great Room The Great Room was the main focus of the exhibition.

These two pages were removed in 2019 but are reproduced as a footnote to this abstract.

The purpose of this study was to find out the true nature of these exhibits and to identify them if possible. Key features of literary evidence, published before 1925, have been re-examined and the results are presented as a chronological list followed by a detailed discourse of each item.

From their positions in the exhibition it is determined that one was an oil (Anti-Room) and the other a watercolour drawing (Library). From literary references it has been found that an exhibit referred to using various titles similar to 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' was an oil. The exhibit 'View of the River Avon, near St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' was found to be a watercolour. Titles of these two works originate in the 1793 Exhibition Catalogue which places 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' in the Library but because this title was an oil it could not have been hung in the Library. It follows that the titles in the catalogue were transposed:

• 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' was an oil hung in the Anti-Room No. 263 (but wrongly catalogued as 'View of the River Avon, near St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'
• 'View of the River Avon, near St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' was a watercolour hung in the Library No. 323 (but wrongly catalogued as 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol')

It is further found that after the exhibition

• The oil, 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol', was passed to the Rev. Robert Nixon of Foots Cray, sold in 1864 and subsequently became lost.
• The watercolour,'View of the River Avon, near St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol', was probably the same watercolour as that purchased in 1925 by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery as 'Hotwell House' and subsequently became known as 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells [from] St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' and later changed to 'Avon Gorge and Bristol Hotwell'.

The identification of the watercolour is only 'probable' if it later becomes certain then this note will be updated.. The oil has been identified but is controversial and is not included within the scope of this study which, whilst being part of the broader remit of attribution of the oil, does not rely on discovery of the oil for its integrity.

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