Oil paint on canvas
Dorset
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>
Rocky Coast
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Bridport, West Bay
cliff
coast
Dorset
England
England, South West
England, Southern
places
sea
seascapes and coasts
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
painting oil paint canvas
10 April 2006 – 12 March 2007
2007-03-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-04-10
Impressions and Ideas Turner's Oil Sketches and Studies
Collection based display
6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
2008-01-13
6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
2008-01-13
2007-10-06
Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Ghent, Belgium)
http://www.gent.be/
2007-10-06
British Vision, Observation and Imagination in British Art, 1750 -1950
Loan-out
16 April 2013 – 30 June 2013
2013-06-30
16 April 2013
2013-04-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2013-04-16
Elements of Nature
Collection based display
Rocky Coast
support: 502 × 657 mm
frame: 591 × 743 × 52 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><b>273. </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-rocky-coast-n05499" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05499</span></a>]<b> Rocky Coast</b> <i>c.</i> 1825–30</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (5499)</p>
<p>Canvas, 19 3/4 × 25 7/8 (50 × 65·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (? 165, one of 2 each 2'2" × 1'8" with No. 274 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-seascape-with-a-yacht-n05485" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05485</span></a>]); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1947.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Arts Council tour 1952 (17).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Davies 1946, p. 161.</p>
<p>This relatively tame seapiece can probably be dated to the later 1820s. John Gage (letter of 17 November 1977) has suggested that it shows Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, seen from the opposite direction to that in the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/watercolour" title="Glossary definition for 'Watercolour'"><span>water-colour</span></a> of <i>c.</i>
1825 in the Fitzwilliam Museum (Wilton 1979, p. 338 no. 764, repr.). However, William Hoade has very kindly informed us in advance of the publication of his forthcoming book <i>Turner in Dorset</i> that he has identified the scene as Bridport, Dorset, seen from the high tide mark below Thorncombe Beacon, looking east. There is a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/graphite" title="Glossary definition for 'Graphite'"><span>pencil</span></a> sketch of what appear to be the same cliffs, done in 1811 in the ‘Corfe to Dartmouth’ sketchbook (CXXIV-29) and the cliffs are also seen, from a slightly different viewpoint, in the watercolour done for <i><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/picturesque" title="Glossary definition for 'Picturesque'"><span>Picturesque</span></a> Views on the Southern Coast of England</i> and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/engraving" title="Glossary definition for 'Engraving'"><span>engraved</span></a> by W.B. Cooke in 1820 (Bury Art Gallery, repr. Wilton 1979, p. 353 no. 465, and, in colour, Shanes 1981<sup>2</sup>, pl. 32). If this latter identification is correct then the date of the picture could be rather earlier than suggested here, say <i>c.</i> 1815–20.</p>
<p>The original paint and ground is missing down the right-hand edge and along the right-hand quarter of the bottom edge.</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
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-07T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
Bridport, West Bay cliff coast Dorset England England, Southern England, South West places sea seascapes and coasts UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions