Synopsis
J.M.W. Turner had a lifelong association with the River Thames. He was born near the river and throughout his life he maintained a home on or within wasy reach of its banks. Thames scenery was a favourite source of inspiration for paintings, watercolours and sketches. In 1805, Turner moved into Syon Ferry House, overlooking the Thames at Isleworth. He spent the succeeding months sailing and fishing, reading and dreaming, filling his sketchbooks with vivid records of his observations and imaginings and painting oil sketches that rank among the most immediate and vital works he produced. In this book, David Hill retraces Turner's journeys along the Thames during 1805: his explorations of the river in his immediate neighbourhood; his sailing trips upstream to Oxford or trips down the River Wey to Guildford and Godalming, and his adventures downstream through the port of London and out to the open waters of the Estuary and the Nore. Hill charts the growth of Turner's association with the river, the way in which he transformed his sketches from this period into paintings and influence of his Thames experience on the rest of his career.
Combining art historical research with topographical and social history, Hill provides a chronology of Turner's sketches in different media and identifies and describes the scenery and buildings they depicted.
