THE MOST ELEGANT SEARCH ON THE PLANET
The Turner's Registry of Missing Turners
Turners Registration # 1:
Title: Raby Castle
Medium: watercolor
Date: about 1817
Size: about 200x280
Listing: W.558 - "whereabouts unknown."
Comment: This is one of three (and only missing) watercolor designs by Turner for a series of 3 engravings (R.141-3) which
appeared in Surtee's History of Durham, published in 1820. Nothing much else is known about its history. The two other watercolor
designs in the set: Hylton Castle and Gibside (two versions) are in private collection(s). Turner went to Raby Castle in the fall of
1817 to prepare for the commission from the earl of Darlington, lord of the castle to paint a "portrait" of his home. This was
exhibited the following year at the Royal Academy, now a treasure in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. After discussing the
changes Turner made following the exhibition that master wordsmith Evelyn Joll waxes positively lyrical and pens one of his many
memorable phrases in his entry for the work (B&J 136) in the Paintings of J.M.W.Turner catalogue: "...although his repainting of the
foreground may have resulted in some loss of anecdotal interest, it had the great advantage of focusing attention on the middle
distance where light and shadow sweep over a landscape in a passage of breathtaking beauty." The anecdotal evidence is in full
cry in the engraving, with huntsmen and a large pack of hounds getting ready for the chase, as we can observe below. With the
painting ending up in Maryland, it is at all possible that our missing work could have been produced by the Montreal dealer W.Scott
& Son who sold the painting to Henry Walters of Baltimore, as an "anecdotal" complement.? Thus out missing work could be almost
anywhere, in England, in Canada or in the U.S.A.
Clues: The best. The engraving for which it served as a design. Displayed are both the etching - unrecorded outside The Turner
Museum - and the final product - the engraving. The etching - in effect a drawing on a steel-plate - gives us an excellent idea about
the "skeleton" of the work. Although Turner routinely made important alterations/improvements on the image during the print-making
process, the engraving is our best clue at the present.
Raby Castle - the engraving
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please click for registration No2 HERE !
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