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Lot Essay
The present watercolour is a rare and early work by Ruskin, executed when he was only 18 years old. Ruskin began by taking drawing lessons from Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1855), but by 1835 he had decided he was no good as a watercolourist and had effectively given up the medium until his 1840-1841 continental trip. In 1837 he toured the Lake District with his parents and on Sunday 25 June arrived at the inn adjacent to the gates of Rokeby Park. The present drawing was probably executed on Monday 26 June as Ruskin did not draw on Sundays at this time. This drawing is one of only two known drawings made on the spot during this trip to the Lake District.
Ruskin had a particular affinity to Rokeby because of its connections with Scott and Turner. He revisted the area in 1876 in pursuit of the site of Turner's Junction of the Greta and the Tees, which he had recently presented to Oxford (see A. Wilton, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg and London, 1979, no. 556.). The present watercolour would have been signed and dated by Ruskin at a later date, as was the case with a large number of his drawings.
We are grateful to Jim Dearden for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
Ruskin had a particular affinity to Rokeby because of its connections with Scott and Turner. He revisted the area in 1876 in pursuit of the site of Turner's Junction of the Greta and the Tees, which he had recently presented to Oxford (see A. Wilton, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg and London, 1979, no. 556.). The present watercolour would have been signed and dated by Ruskin at a later date, as was the case with a large number of his drawings.
We are grateful to Jim Dearden for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.