Lot Essay
Turner visited Conway in 1798 and 1799 and there are a number of drawings in sketchbooks used on each visit. Drawings on two pages of the Hereford Court sketchbook of 1798 (Turner Bequest XXXVIII) led in particular to at least five finished watercolours of the castle (see Wilton 1979, pp. 329-30 nos. 268-71), and there is also a large unfinished 'colour beginning' of 1799-1800 in the Turner Bequest (TB LX (a)-K, repr. Wilton 1984, p. 67 no. 92). Turner also painted an oil of the subject for William Leader, (40¾ x 55in.; Trustees of the Grosvenor Estate; Butlin and Joll, loc. cit., repr. pl. 146), and he seems also to have owned two of the large watercolours, sold Christie's, 18 March 1843, lot 50, "... with vessels and boats; beautiful effect of evening sun", and lot 57, "..., from the bridge; coloured with grand and fine effect - capital".
The history of the five known large watercolours has been considerably mixed up, but sales in the 1980s and the reappearance of the present work have clarified matters to some extent. The watercolours fall into two groups, those based on the drawing on page 50 of the Hereford Court sketchbook and those based on that on page 52. Each page is also inscribed with the names of possible purchasers.
Page 50 is inscribed with the names of Alexander Pope the miniature painter, Turner's pupil William Blake of Newhouse, and William Leader. By the last name are the dimensions 4ft. 8in. long, 3ft. 6in. wide, which shows that this reference is to the oil painting, based on the sketch on that page. So also are three of the large watercolours. That sold at Christie's on 30 June 1981, lot 55, repr., can be traced straight back to Blake (16 5/8 x 25¼in.; Wilton, 1979, no. 268 as untraced). The second, from the Mrs. Charles Lupton and G.J. Lockett collections, was sold at Christie's on 16 November 1982, lot 124, repr. (17½ x 25in.; merged in Wilton, 1979, no. 269 with the present watercolour as untraced). The third, larger and grander than the others, and closer to the Blake version than to the other, was formerly in the collection of Viscount Gage and was sold at Sotheby's on 11 April 1991 lot 46, repr. (21 x 30in.; Wilton, 1979, no. 270, repr.). One of the last two was probably lot 50 in the 1843 Leader sale.
The other two large watercolours derive from the drawing on page 52 of the Hereford Court sketchbook. These are the present examples and that is the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (16¾ x 24¾in.; signed "JMWT RA"; Wilton, 1979, no. 271, repr.); this differs from the present example in certain details of the castle, in the absence of the plume of smoke behind the bridge, and in the presence of various figures along the shore on the right. In the case of page 52 it has not proved possible to trace either of the two known watercolours back to the names of possible owners inscribed by the sketch, the Rev. Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Barrington, The Rev. Mr. Dunford and the Rev. Mr. Ogle. The Whitworth version has been traced back to T. Graham (sold Christie's 8 May 1855, lot 100, bt. C.S. Bale, the Bale sale at Christie's on 5 June 1863, lot 104, bt. Agnew, by whom sold to Thomas Ashton, whose descendant Mrs P.W. Kessler gave it to the Whitworth) and perhaps before him to Turner's early patron Dr. Thomas Monro (Christie's 26 June 1833, lot 92, bt. Molteno); see Hartley, loc. cit. Hartley also suggests that a version of this composition was the second watercolour sold by Leader in 1843, lot 57, when it was bought by the dealer Fuller; this could be either the present work or yet another version, at present untraced.
The oil painting has been dated to 1802 or 1802-3, the large watercolours to various dates between 1798 and 1802. Armstrong dates the present work to circa 1800, after the Blake version ('1798-1800') and before that in the Whitworth ('circa 1802'). Hartley dates the Whitworth version to circa 1801-2, like Wilton (in 1984) preferring 1802 on account of Turner having added the letters 'RA' to his signature; Turner was elected a full Royal Academician in that year. The Gage watercolour, with its greater size, seems to be the final development of the watercolour based on page 50 of the Hereford Court sketchbook, only preceding the oil painting. The present watercolour probably predates the signed Whitworth versions. All five watercolours represent the culmination of Turner's early topographical works on paper before his first visit to the Continent in the Summer of 1802, while the presence of an oil painting of Conway Castle by P.J. de Loutherbourg at the Royal Academy exhibitions the same summer may well have provoked Turner's own oil painting, almost certainly painted after his return from abroad.
We are grateful to Andrew Wilton for confirming the attribution of this watercolour.
The history of the five known large watercolours has been considerably mixed up, but sales in the 1980s and the reappearance of the present work have clarified matters to some extent. The watercolours fall into two groups, those based on the drawing on page 50 of the Hereford Court sketchbook and those based on that on page 52. Each page is also inscribed with the names of possible purchasers.
Page 50 is inscribed with the names of Alexander Pope the miniature painter, Turner's pupil William Blake of Newhouse, and William Leader. By the last name are the dimensions 4ft. 8in. long, 3ft. 6in. wide, which shows that this reference is to the oil painting, based on the sketch on that page. So also are three of the large watercolours. That sold at Christie's on 30 June 1981, lot 55, repr., can be traced straight back to Blake (16 5/8 x 25¼in.; Wilton, 1979, no. 268 as untraced). The second, from the Mrs. Charles Lupton and G.J. Lockett collections, was sold at Christie's on 16 November 1982, lot 124, repr. (17½ x 25in.; merged in Wilton, 1979, no. 269 with the present watercolour as untraced). The third, larger and grander than the others, and closer to the Blake version than to the other, was formerly in the collection of Viscount Gage and was sold at Sotheby's on 11 April 1991 lot 46, repr. (21 x 30in.; Wilton, 1979, no. 270, repr.). One of the last two was probably lot 50 in the 1843 Leader sale.
The other two large watercolours derive from the drawing on page 52 of the Hereford Court sketchbook. These are the present examples and that is the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (16¾ x 24¾in.; signed "JMWT RA"; Wilton, 1979, no. 271, repr.); this differs from the present example in certain details of the castle, in the absence of the plume of smoke behind the bridge, and in the presence of various figures along the shore on the right. In the case of page 52 it has not proved possible to trace either of the two known watercolours back to the names of possible owners inscribed by the sketch, the Rev. Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Barrington, The Rev. Mr. Dunford and the Rev. Mr. Ogle. The Whitworth version has been traced back to T. Graham (sold Christie's 8 May 1855, lot 100, bt. C.S. Bale, the Bale sale at Christie's on 5 June 1863, lot 104, bt. Agnew, by whom sold to Thomas Ashton, whose descendant Mrs P.W. Kessler gave it to the Whitworth) and perhaps before him to Turner's early patron Dr. Thomas Monro (Christie's 26 June 1833, lot 92, bt. Molteno); see Hartley, loc. cit. Hartley also suggests that a version of this composition was the second watercolour sold by Leader in 1843, lot 57, when it was bought by the dealer Fuller; this could be either the present work or yet another version, at present untraced.
The oil painting has been dated to 1802 or 1802-3, the large watercolours to various dates between 1798 and 1802. Armstrong dates the present work to circa 1800, after the Blake version ('1798-1800') and before that in the Whitworth ('circa 1802'). Hartley dates the Whitworth version to circa 1801-2, like Wilton (in 1984) preferring 1802 on account of Turner having added the letters 'RA' to his signature; Turner was elected a full Royal Academician in that year. The Gage watercolour, with its greater size, seems to be the final development of the watercolour based on page 50 of the Hereford Court sketchbook, only preceding the oil painting. The present watercolour probably predates the signed Whitworth versions. All five watercolours represent the culmination of Turner's early topographical works on paper before his first visit to the Continent in the Summer of 1802, while the presence of an oil painting of Conway Castle by P.J. de Loutherbourg at the Royal Academy exhibitions the same summer may well have provoked Turner's own oil painting, almost certainly painted after his return from abroad.
We are grateful to Andrew Wilton for confirming the attribution of this watercolour.