JMW Turner - Norham Castle on Tweed, Sunrise (1798)

JMW Turner (23 April 1775 - 19 December 1851) Norham Castle on Tweed, Sunrise, 1798, © Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, (The Higgins Bedford)

For JMW Turner's 246th birthday, I thought I would show you Norham Castle on the Tweed, Sunrise, painted by Turner in 1798. It is one of the highlights in our weather exhibition, Under the Same Sky. I don’t know when you will get to see it in the flesh, but along with the rest of The Higgins Bedford collection, it will be waiting for you when we reopen.

The exhibition is in two parts, one gallery is devoted to the local impact of weather and the other has artist’s depictions of the sky, drawn from The Cecil Higgins Art Gallery collection.

The art gallery began to collect Turner’s watercolours in the 1950s. We now have nine works by him in Bedford, each covering an area of his output and life. When I first started learning about Turner, it was his oils, not his watercolours that I saw first. One of my Dad’s favourite paintings was The Fighting Temeraire in The National Gallery’s Collection. I don’t know what it was in particular that he liked about it, but I like to think it might be the same as me, not the ship being towed, but the coppery sunset that fills the right hand side of the painting.

When I started working with the Cecil Higgins paintings, I learnt about Turner’s watercolours and his legacy of turning watercolour from a simple tool used for topographical depictions and into an expressive and versatile medium, both equal to oil painting. Norham Castle in Bedford’s collection is an early example of this. In 1798 when it was exhibited at The Royal Academy, along with other northern subjects, it was described as having ‘the force and harmony of an oil painting’.

It is again, the sun that I am drawn to in Norham Castle. When Turner first exhibited the watercolour at the Royal Academy, he included in the catalogue five lines by the poet James Thomson (1700–1748):

But Yonder comes the powerful King of Day,

Rejoicing in the East. The lessening cloud.

The Kindling azure, and the mountain’s brow

Illumin’d with fluid gold — his near approach.

Betoken glad.

Thomson was born only a few miles from Norham, so would surely have seen the same scene Turner had risen early from his lodgings to witness, the mountains ‘illimin’d with fluid gold’. In the Tate’s collection there are studies which show how Turner experimented to get this brilliant effect of advancing light.

Bedford’s watercolour is from preparatory studies Turner made on his first trip to Norham Castle in 1797, as part of a tour of the North of England. The castle was to become a lifelong fascination that culminated in the blazing light of Norham Castle, Sunrise, 1845, again in the Tate’s collection. 

In 1831, Turner passed Norham again and was said to have taken off his hat and made a low bow to the castle. When asked what he was doing he said, “I made a drawing or painting of Norham several years since. It took; and from that day to this I have had as much to do as my hands could execute”. The painting Turner is referring to, is most likely to be Bedford’s watercolour, or is it? In fact there are two identical versions of Norham Castle. We think that the first one Turner painted is, in fact, in a private collection and that was the one that was exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1798. It was seen by an early patron of Turner, Edward Lascelles of Harewood House, who asked him to repeat the scene again resulting in Bedford’s work. Whichever version Bedford’s is, it is a truly remarkable work which hopefully you will be able to enjoy very soon.

Please keep an eye on The Higgins Bedford website for updates on a reopening date at www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk

Written by Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Sherlocked

During series one of Sherlock, we published a Sherlock Special blogpost to highlight the fact that we have a painting by JMW Turner (1775 - 1851) of the Reichenbach Falls in the collection at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. The Reichenbach Falls also happens to be the scene of the famous meeting between Sherlock and his archenemy Moriarty.

The scene was first published in a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Final Problem published in 1893. This was intended to be the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories however, pressure from fans brought Sherlock back, firslty in the prequel The Hound of the Baskervilles and then returning Holmes for good in The Adventure of the Empty House published in 1903.

Sherlock fans cannot fail to have noticed that the upcoming episode is titled 'The Reichenbach Fall'. You can see a preview here. We can't wait to find out how Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat will deal with the Reichenbach Falls story line. But more then that, we are very excited to know that the aforementioned Turner painting is likely to feature in the episode. We're not yet sure for how long, where, when, or even if it will certainly feature but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled! We hope you will be too.

JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. (1775-1851)

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach, 1804

Accesion No.: P.98
watercolour on paper, 102.2 ´ 68.9 cm
inscribed: J M W Turner R A 1804

Entry from the Watercolour Catalogue:

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach was first shown at Turner’s own gallery held on the first floor of what was 64 Harley Street. Turner had conceived the idea of his own gallery due to uncertainty over the future of the Royal Academy in late 1803, with rumours abounding that Turner would not be showing at the the R.A. in 1804. Sir George Beaumont (who saw the Turner exhibition) complained of 'the strong skies and parts not corresponding with them'.

The Great Falls is a superb watercolour, made soon after Turner’s first visit to Switzerland in 1802, and is based on a sketch (Wilton no.361) now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The view is taken from the valley of Hasli above Meiringen with Great Scheidegg beyond and shows Turner tackling a 'Sublime' subject with enormous confidence. Turner’s pride in the work is shown by the fact that it was again exhibited at the R.A. in 1815.

EJ/JM

Picture of the Week No.30 J.M.W. Turner

All of us here at the Art Gallery and Museum have been enjoying the BBC's Sherlock and are very pleased to hear there'll be more episodes. The first series ended on a ciff hanger ending, but one of the most dramatic moments in the original books was Sherlock falling, apparently to his death from the Reichenbach Falls in the Swiss Alps. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wasn't the only person to be so creatively inspired; 90 years earlier JMW Turner had travelled there and produced one of his finest watercolours. In 1954 that epic painting was bought for the Cecil Higgins Collection. It remains one of the stand-out works in the collection and was recently in the Turner exhibiton that toured the US, finishing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sherlock Holmes, was brought back to life by Coyle Doyle in The Adventure of the Empty House after his dealy encounter with Moriaty by the great waterfall. How will the 21st version survive his similar situation? KP

JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. (1775-1851)
The Great Falls of the Reichenbach, 1804

Entry from the Watercolour Catalogue:

Accesion No.: P.98
watercolour on paper, 102.2 ´ 68.9 cm
inscribed: J M W Turner R A 1804


Turner was born on 23 April 1775, the son of William Turner, a barber in Covent Garden. After the death of his sister, and 'in consequence of illness', he was moved to Brentford, living with his uncle, where he attended Brentford Free School as a day boy. His earliest known work is a copy of an engraving of Friar Bacon’s Study and Folly Bridge, Oxford (Oxford Almanack, 1780), made when he was twelve; it was at this time that he produced many sketches of churches, abbeys and city streets. A friend remembered Turner declaring that 'if he could begin life again, he would rather be an architect than a painter'.

Entering the R.A. Schools in 1789, his training is remembered by Edward Dayes who said 'The way he acquired his professional powers was by borrowing, where he could, a drawing or picture to copy from; or by making a sketch of any one in the Exhibition early in the morning, and finishing it at home. By such practices... the fine taste and colour his drawings possess are scarcely to be found in any other'.

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach was first shown at Turner’s own gallery held on the first floor of what was 64 Harley Street. Turner had conceived the idea of his own gallery due to uncertainty over the future of the Royal Academy in late 1803, with rumours abounding that Turner would not be showing at the the R.A. in 1804. Sir George Beaumont (who saw the Turner exhibition) complained of 'the strong skies and parts not corresponding with them'.

The Great Falls is a superb watercolour, made soon after Turner’s first visit to Switzerland in 1802, and is based on a sketch (Wilton no.361) now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The view is taken from the valley of Hasli above Meiringen with Great Scheidegg beyond and shows Turner tackling a 'Sublime' subject with enormous confidence. Turner’s pride in the work is shown by the fact that it was again exhibited at the R.A. in 1815.
EJ/JM


PROVENANCE Bought from Turner by Walter Fawkes of Farnley Hall; Fawkes sale Christie’s 2 July 1937, no.37, bought in; Mrs F.M.C. Raymond; sale at Christie’s 13 October 1954 no.29; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, from whom purchased by Gallery, December 1954.
EXHIBITIONS: Turner’s Gallery, 1804; London, Royal Academy, 1815, no.292; London, Grosvenor Place (Fawkes’ London House), 1819, no.2; Watercolours from Farnley Hall, Leeds, Music Hall, 1839, no.23; Old Masters of the British School, London, Royal Academy, 1886, no.34; Old Masters of the British School, London, Royal Academy, 1906, no.205; Exhibition of British Art, London, Royal Academy, 1934, no.708; 68th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours, London, Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, 1941, no.36; L’Aquarelle Anglaise, Geneva, Zurich, 1955-56, no.117; The Romantic Movement, London, Tate Gallery, 1959, no.440; Primitives to Picasso, London, Royal Academy, 1962, no.380; Watercolours and Drawings from the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, London, Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, 1962, no. 61; Royal Academy Bi-centenary Exhibition, London, 1968 –9, no.203; La Peinture Romantique Anglaise et les Préraphaélites, Paris, Petit Palais, 1972, no.284; Turner, Paris, Le Grand Palais, 1984, no.100, William Wordsworth and the Age of Romanticism, Chicago, The Chicago Historical Society, 1988, no.292; The Great Age of British Watercolours 1750-1880, London, Royal Academy of Art and Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1993, no.284; Le Cattredali della Terra, Milan, Museo della Permanente, 2000, no.3; Turner The Great Watercolours, London, Royal Academy, 2000-1, no.18.
REFERENCES: Farnley Hall catalogue, 1850; F. Wedmore, Turner and Ruskin, 1900, vol.I, repr. facing p.100; C.F. Bell, The Exhibited Works of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., 1901, pp.51,170; Sir W. Armstrong, Turner, 1902, pp.130 & 272; A.J. Finberg, Turner’s Sketches and Drawings, 1910, p.39; ibid. Turner’s Watercolours at Farnley Hall, 1912, pp.1-2,21-2 pl.IX; A.J. Finberg, The Life of J.M.W. Turner R.A., 1939, pp.107, 219, 258, 466,477,479,503; A.P. Oppé, The Burlington Magazine, vol.78, April 1941, p.131; I. Williams, Early English Watercolours, 1952, pp.111,114; J. Gage, Turner: A Wonderful Range of Mind, 1987, p.42, fig.63; B. Dawson, Turner in the National Gallery of Ireland, 1988, pp.64-66; E. Shanes, Turner: The Masterworks, 1990, p.56, pl.57; D. Hill, Turner in the Alps, 1992, pp.119-125, repr. p.120. E. Shanes et al, Turner The Great Watercolours, 2000, p.86.