Oil paint on canvas
Isle of Wight
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
East Cowes Castle Regatta Beating to Windward 2
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
architecture
boat, yacht
castle
coast
Cowes - non-specific
East Cowes, East Cowes Castle
England
England, South East
England, Southern
Isle of Wight
leisure and pastimes
military
places
river
River Medina
sea
seascapes and coasts
ship, warship
society
Solent
sport
transport: water
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
UK natural features
water: inland
wave
weather
wind
yachting
<p>This is one of three oil sketches at Tate for a painting commissioned by George IV’s architect John Nash (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Turner stayed with Nash at his self-designed castle on the Isle of Wight. Since demolished, it gleams here on the distant hill, near the future site of Osborne House. This was only the second Cowes Regatta. The sketches were possibly begun on board a ship moored in the Solent. Turner’s interest in seventeenth-century Dutch sea painting and his delight in this modern sporting occasion combine in a dynamic composition, in contrast to its calm companion piece.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2010</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
26 August 2002 – 18 July 2005
2005-07-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-08-26
Marine Painting
Collection based display
1 October 2007 – 21 September 2008
2008-09-21
1 October 2007 – 6 January 2008
2008-01-06
2007-10-01
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
23 June 2008 – 21 September 2008
2008-09-21
2008-06-23
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA)
http://www.metmuseum.org
2007-10-01
JMW Turner
Tate partnerships & programmes
19 August 2009 – 27 July 2010
2010-07-27
19 August 2009 – 27 July 2010
2010-07-27
2009-08-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-19
Landscape and Nation: Turner's Britain
Collection based display
14 April 2012 – 27 March 2013
2013-03-27
14 April 2012 – 27 March 2013
2013-03-27
2012-04-14
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-04-14
Constable / Turner
Collection based display
22 May 2015 – 27 September 2015
2015-09-27
22 May 2015 – 27 September 2015
2015-09-27
2015-05-22
The Salisbury Museum (Salisbury, UK)
http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk
2015-05-22
Turner and Wessex
Loan-out
Sketch for ‘East Cowes Castle, the Regatta Beating to Windward’ No. 2
support: 457 × 610 mm
frame: 718 × 880 × 105 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<p>This is one of three oil sketches at Tate for a painting commissioned by George IV’s architect John Nash (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Turner stayed with Nash at his self-designed castle on the Isle of Wight. Since demolished, it gleams here on the distant hill, near the future site of Osborne House. This was only the second Cowes Regatta. The sketches were possibly begun on board a ship moored in the Solent. Turner’s interest in seventeenth-century Dutch sea painting and his delight in this modern sporting occasion combine in a dynamic composition, in contrast to its calm companion piece.
<br/></p>

Display caption
2010-02-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p>[from]<b> Nos. 260–8: Cowes Sketches, 1827 </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-starting-for-their-moorings-no-1-n01998" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01998</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-study-of-sea-and-sky-isle-of-wight-n02001" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N02001</span></a>]</p>
<p>TURNER revisited the Isle of Wight in late July and August 1827, staying with the architect John Nash at East Cowes Castle. In an undated letter he asked his father to send one or if possible two pieces of unstretched <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/canvas" title="Glossary definition for 'Canvas'"><span>canvas</span></a>, either a piece measuring 6 ft by 4 ft or a ‘whole length’, and it was on a 6 ft by 4 ft canvas, cut into two, that he painted these nine sketches. The 1854 Schedule of the Turner Bequest listed, under nos. 203 to 206, 207 to 210, 211 to 214, and 215 to 218, four ‘Roll[s] containing 4 subjects’. Despite the fact that one of the Cowes canvases contained five sketches the two rolls were probably among these four. They were rediscovered at the National Gallery in 1905 and divided into separate pieces. One roll contained Nos. 260 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-beating-to-windward-no-1-n01995" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01995</span></a>], 262 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-beating-to-windward-no-3-n01993" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01993</span></a>], 264 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-starting-for-their-moorings-no-2-n02000" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N02000</span></a>], 266 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-between-decks-n01996" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01996</span></a>] and 268 [<span>N02001</span>] and the other Nos. 261 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-beating-to-windward-no-2-n01994" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01994</span></a>], 263 [<span>N01998</span>], 265 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sketch-for-east-cowes-castle-the-regatta-starting-for-their-moorings-no-3-n01997" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01997</span></a>] and 267 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shipping-off-east-cowes-headland-n01999" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01999</span></a>].</p>
<p>No record was made of the placing of the sketches on the two rolls on canvas, but to a certain extent this can be reconstructed. On the first roll the two largest sketches, Nos. 264 [<span>N02000</span>] and 262 [<span>N01993</span>], were one above the other, flanked on the left by Nos. 266 [<span>N01996</span>], 260 [<span>N01995</span>] (both upside down) and 268 [<span>N02001</span>]. On the other Nos. 267 [<span>N01999</span>] and 263 [<span>N01998</span>] were at the top, Nos. 265 [<span>N01997</span>] and 261 [<span>N01994</span>] below; No. 261 [<span>N01994</span>] was definitely to the right of No. 265 [<span>N01997</span>], and No. 267 [<span>N01999</span>] seems to have been above No. 265 [<span>N01997</span>].</p>
<p>It has been suggested by Graham Reynolds that at least some of these sketches were painted on the spot, though the practical difficulties, especially when the artist was out at sea, would have been considerable. As Evelyn Joll has suggested, a clue as to where Turner may have done the sketches is given by the sketch <i>Between Decks</i> (No. 266 [<span>N01996</span>]). This appears to have been painted a board a man-of-war and there seems no reason why Turner could not have painted the sketches of yachts racing from a ship anchored of Cowes Roads. If so, Turner's vantage point would seem to have been on a ship rather further offshore than the guardship that can be seen in Nos. 242, 261 [<span>N01994</span>] and 262 [<span>N01993</span>]. It is interesting that the three sketches for <i>The Regatta beating to Windward</i> would seem to have been painted alternately on each roll, No. 260 [<span>N01995</span>] on the first, No. 261 [<span>N01994</span>] on the second, and No. 262 [<span>N01993</span>] again on the first; this could have been to allow an assistant time to adjust the roll for a new sketch.</p>
<p>The ‘Windsor and Cowes’ sketchbook (CCXXVI) contains <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a> of boats racing, boats at anchor, views of the coast and figure studies, though none directly related to the oil sketches, which to a certain extent supports the suggestion that they were done on the spot. It also contains a list of the boats with their names, the names of their owners, and their colours, showing just how detailed was Turner's interest in the Regatta (CCXXVI-80 <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/recto-verso" title="Glossary definition for 'Recto / Verso'"><span>verso</span></a>).</p>
<p>The two groups of sketches of the Regatta were used for the pictures commissioned by John Nash and exhibited the following year (see Nos. 242 and 243). The other three, including <i>Between Decks</i>, were not used for more finished pictures.</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> MacColl 1920, pp. 31–3; Reynolds 1969<sup>2</sup>, pp. 67–72.</p>
<p><b>261. [</b><span>N01994</span>] <b>Sketch for ‘East Cowes Castle, the Regatta beating to Windward’ no. 2</b> 1827</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (1994)</p>
<p>Canvas, 17 3/4 × 23 7/8 (45 × 60·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (? one of 203–18; see p. 159); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1906.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Amsterdam, Berne, Paris, Brussels, Liege (24), Venice and Rome (26) 1947–8; R.A. 1974–5 (312); Leningrad and Moscow 1975–6 (27); Paris 1983–4 (37, repr.).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Clare 1951, p. 75; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, p. 39, pl. 70; Reynolds 1969<sup>2</sup>, pp. 67–72.</p>
<p>One of the four sketches painted on the second roll of canvas, and, with two from the first roll, related to the finished <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> of <i>The Regatta beating to Windward</i> (No. 242). Probably a slightly earlier moment than that shown in No. 262 [<span>N01993</span>] though after No. 260 [<span>N01995</span>]. What appears to be the same guardship as that in the centre of No. 262 [<span>N01993</span>] is here largely obscured by the boats in the right foreground, though another three-master without sails appears behind the regatta on the left. As well as East Cowes Castle there are further buildings, including a fort, on the west side of the Medina estuary on the right.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
architecture boat, yacht castle coast Cowes - non-specific East Cowes, East Cowes Castle England England, South East England, Southern Isle of Wight leisure and pastimes military places river River Medina sea seascapes and coasts ship, warship society Solent sport transport: water UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions UK natural features water: inland wave weather wind yachting