Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Margate Pier

Maker

(artist)
1775-1851

Title

Margate Pier

Date of Production

(circa) 1835 - 1840

Medium

watercolour and bodycolour with scraping on brown wove paper, the corners slightly rounded

Dimensions

Height: 22.4 cm
Width: 29.3 cm

Accession Number

D.2007.DS.46

Mode of Acquisition

Dorothy Scharf, bequest, 2007 (March)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This work originates from a sketchbook that Turner used in the seaside resort of Margate. Turner apparently gave the book to his companion Sophia Booth who sold it to the critic John Ruskin after the artist’s death. In the 1869 sale catalogue Ruskin described Margate Pier as a ‘Study of storm and sunshine. . . Entirely magnificent.’

Turner conjures up the blustery scene with vibrant shades of gouache. Blurred shapes and highlights, dashed in with minimal brushstrokes, convey a palpable sense of the gusting wind, while the cunning zigzag perspective adds depth and movement to the scene.

Provenance

bequeathed by the artist to his housekeeper, Sophia Booth, 1851; purchased from her by John Ruskin (1819-1900); his sale, Christie's (London), 15 April 1869, lot 14; purchased there by Colnaghi (London); William Blodgett, New York (1823-1875); by descent to his daughter, Eleanor Blodgett, New York (1855-1930); given by her to her godson, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), 1911; by descent to Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962); bequeathed by her to Dr A. David Gurewitsch (1902-1974); by descent to his wife, Edna Gurewtisch; purchased from her by Thomas Agnew & Sons (London), 1978; purchased there by Miss Dorothy Scharf, London (1942-2004), 1978; Scharf Bequest 2007

Exhibition History

Late Turner: Painting Set Free, Tate Britain, London, 10/09/2014-25/01/2015

Paths to Fame - Turner's Watercolour Landscapes, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/2008-25/01/2009

Paths to Fame - Turner's Watercolour Landscapes, Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, England, 16/07/2008-12/10/2008 ...More

Making and Meaning: Turner and The Fighting Temeraire, National Gallery, London, 03/07/1995-01/10/1995

Making and Meaning - Turner and the Fighting Temeraire, National Gallery & London & England, 1995

106th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 22/01/1979-23/02/1979

Long-term loan from Mrs A David Gurewitsch, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975-1978 ...Less

Literature

David Blayney Brown, Amy Concannon and Sam Smiles, ed., Late Turner: Painting Set Free, London: Tate Publishing, 2014
cat. 124
ill. on p. 200

Selborne, Joanna, 'British Watercolors at the Courtauld Gallery: The Dorothy Scharf Bequest' in 'Master Drawings', Winter 2008
p. 544
fig. 2 on p. 543

Paths to Fame: Turner Watercolours from The Courtauld Gallery, Wordsworth Trust; Courtauld Gallery, 2008-2009
no. 26
ill. on p.135 ...More

Yardley, Edward, 'A Margate Sketchbook Re-assembled?' in 'Turner Studies', 1984 - 53-55; 4, no. 2
53
ill. on p. 53

Wilton, Andrew, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, London, 1979
no. 1397
ill.

Russell, F., 'Turner in his perfect time' in 'Antique Collector', May 1975
p. 46
pl. 2

Warrell, Ian, Joseph Mallord William Turner : 1775-1851 :Aspects of Turner’s Later Works : Watercolours from the Marie Anne Poniatowski Krugier Collection, Geneva: Marie Anne Poniatowski Krugier Foundation. 2024.
Fig. 3 on pp. 33, 81 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, lower right: "1810".

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection