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Lot Essay
This watercolor shows the 'Surprise view’ over the Park at Hackfall with the River Ure at its center, taken from the Banqueting House at Mowbray Point. John Aislabie had inherited the neighbouring estate of Studley Royal from his brother in 1693, but it was only following his disgrace for his part in the South Sea Bubble, that he moved to Yorkshire and began to create the landscapes for which it became celebrated. In 1731, Aislabie was able to purchase Hackfall and he immediately began work on landscaping the grounds, emphasising the Picturesque qualities of the landscape, opening up views, building follies and grottos and creating waterfalls. He intended to awake different sensations from those arising from more classical and gentler gardens at Studley Royal. The Rev. Richard Warner, writing in 1802, stated, 'The very entrance into these grounds is marked by the finest touches of natural scenery, which instantly flashed upon the mind the superiority of these wild and artless features over elaborate and formal decoration,' (A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland I, 1802).
Following Aislabie's death in 1742 his son William continued these alterations. The Summer House seen lower center is Fisher’s Hall built circa 1750 by William and apparently dedicated to Aislabie’s gardener William Fisher. In 1767, William Aislabie purchased Fountains Abbey and incorporated those spectacular ruins into Studley Royal. Fountains Abbey and Hackfall were, and still are, celebrated as being among the finest of the great designed landscapes of the period.
Turner made numerous visits to Yorkshire throughout his life, the first in 1797 and from 1808 he went almost every year to stay at Farnley Hall, the home of his great friend and patron, Walter Fawkes. His visits were not always in the summer. He was often there in November and December, when the poor winter roads must have made travelling difficult. Hackfall was quite celebrated, and Turner would have known of the park from a number of sources including Wordsworth’s Guide to the Lakes, 1810, and from The Works of the Late Edward Dayes, 1805, in which amidst a detailed description of the park, Dayes recommends the same view.
The watercolor was probably painted in about 1816, in connection with Dr T.J. Whitaker’s proposed General History of the County of York, a vast project for seven folio volumes, with 120 illustrations after Turner watercolors, for which he was to have been paid 3000 guineas. Perhaps unsurprisingly the scheme proved over-ambitious and compounded by Whitaker's death, only twelve parts of the History of Richmondshire appeared with twelve illustrations after Turner (see L. Herrmann, Turner’s Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford, 1990, pp. 97-9). These did not include the present watercolour or its companion Hackfall, near Ripon (Wallace Collection, London, fig. 1).
The present watercolor is based on a detailed pencil drawing in the Large Farnley sketchbook (Tate Britain, CXXVIII, p. 38). There are other drawings of Hackfall in the same sketchbook (pp. 37-43) as well as in the Yorkshire sketchbook and the Large Yorkshire 3 sketchbook (TB CXLIV, pp. 39a-43, and CXXVII, pp. 11a-16). The Large Farnley sketchbook has traditionally been dated to 1816, but, Ian Warrell believes that the sketchbook may have been used earlier, perhaps in 1809 or even 1808 (see, Turner's Sketchbooks, London, 2014, p. 75). Many sheets in the book were detached during Turner's lifetime and it is possible that some of them were used to develop related works while the present sheet is similar in size to the sketchbook pages, Warrell has pointed out that the appearance of the work is closer to those made around 1816, rather than earlier.
Turner based himself at Farnley during his 1816 trip and from there made forays around the region in what appears to have been rather wet conditions throughout. Turner describes these in a letter to James Holworthy (1781-1841), 'Weather miserably wet: I shall be web-foot, like a Drake' (quoted in A.J. Finberg, The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., Oxford, 1961, p. 244). Despite the weather, the sketches and resultant watercolors are full of vitality and can be regarded as some of his finest illustrative work.
We are grateful to Ian Warrell for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
Following Aislabie's death in 1742 his son William continued these alterations. The Summer House seen lower center is Fisher’s Hall built circa 1750 by William and apparently dedicated to Aislabie’s gardener William Fisher. In 1767, William Aislabie purchased Fountains Abbey and incorporated those spectacular ruins into Studley Royal. Fountains Abbey and Hackfall were, and still are, celebrated as being among the finest of the great designed landscapes of the period.
Turner made numerous visits to Yorkshire throughout his life, the first in 1797 and from 1808 he went almost every year to stay at Farnley Hall, the home of his great friend and patron, Walter Fawkes. His visits were not always in the summer. He was often there in November and December, when the poor winter roads must have made travelling difficult. Hackfall was quite celebrated, and Turner would have known of the park from a number of sources including Wordsworth’s Guide to the Lakes, 1810, and from The Works of the Late Edward Dayes, 1805, in which amidst a detailed description of the park, Dayes recommends the same view.
The watercolor was probably painted in about 1816, in connection with Dr T.J. Whitaker’s proposed General History of the County of York, a vast project for seven folio volumes, with 120 illustrations after Turner watercolors, for which he was to have been paid 3000 guineas. Perhaps unsurprisingly the scheme proved over-ambitious and compounded by Whitaker's death, only twelve parts of the History of Richmondshire appeared with twelve illustrations after Turner (see L. Herrmann, Turner’s Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford, 1990, pp. 97-9). These did not include the present watercolour or its companion Hackfall, near Ripon (Wallace Collection, London, fig. 1).
The present watercolor is based on a detailed pencil drawing in the Large Farnley sketchbook (Tate Britain, CXXVIII, p. 38). There are other drawings of Hackfall in the same sketchbook (pp. 37-43) as well as in the Yorkshire sketchbook and the Large Yorkshire 3 sketchbook (TB CXLIV, pp. 39a-43, and CXXVII, pp. 11a-16). The Large Farnley sketchbook has traditionally been dated to 1816, but, Ian Warrell believes that the sketchbook may have been used earlier, perhaps in 1809 or even 1808 (see, Turner's Sketchbooks, London, 2014, p. 75). Many sheets in the book were detached during Turner's lifetime and it is possible that some of them were used to develop related works while the present sheet is similar in size to the sketchbook pages, Warrell has pointed out that the appearance of the work is closer to those made around 1816, rather than earlier.
Turner based himself at Farnley during his 1816 trip and from there made forays around the region in what appears to have been rather wet conditions throughout. Turner describes these in a letter to James Holworthy (1781-1841), 'Weather miserably wet: I shall be web-foot, like a Drake' (quoted in A.J. Finberg, The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., Oxford, 1961, p. 244). Despite the weather, the sketches and resultant watercolors are full of vitality and can be regarded as some of his finest illustrative work.
We are grateful to Ian Warrell for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.