St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol
St. Vincent's Rock is an area of cliffs and rocks on the bank of the River Avon in Bristol.
In 1791 there was a group of buildings situated in this area. These were known as 'Hotwells'. Most of the Hotwells buildings have been demolished but the 'Collonade' remains.
Turner visited Bristol in 1791 (age 16). He stayed with his father's friends, the Narraways. During this visit Turner made sketches and watercolours in his 'Bristol and Malmesbury' sketchbook which contains inscriptions by Turner showing the date (1791) and places sketched. The 'Bristol and Malmesbury' sketchbook formed part of the Turner bequest and its whereabouts and authenticity have never been in doubt.
...turner 1791 inscription...
Turner's sketch 'Back View Of The Hot Wells, Bristol' (1791) is bound in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury' sketchbook. shows the Hotwells buildings fom the north-east. The collonade is not evident; it would be behind these buildings. Turner's distinctive overhanging rock and dome rock complex is absent from this sketch.
...the sketch...
Turner painted a watercolour-drawing from the sketch. It is not clear whether he did this whilst in Bristol or later. It is also not clear whether it was drawn in the 'Bristol and Malmesbury' sketchbook or on a separate sheet. However, the sketchbook contains a number of other sketches [link] which have been copied out as watercolour-drawings in the bound sketchbook as it now stands. The watercolour-drawing of 'Back View Of The Hot Wells, Bristol' is the same height [link] as other folios in the sketchbook but slightly narrower than the width of the sketchbook. There is evidence [link] of removal of pages from the sketchbook at folio 18 where a 'stub' remains bound where a page has been torn out. It is possible that the 'Back View Of The Hot Wells' watercolour was removed from the sketchbook but it is too wide to be the missing part of the folio 18 stub. Both this watercolour and the oil show Turner's distinctive overhanging rock and dome rock complex but no evidence has been found to show that these rocks really existed; it seems likely that they were Turner's invention.
...watercolour - 'Back View Of The Hot Wells, Bristol'
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