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The Junction of the Greta and Tees at Rokeby Turner
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Curator’s description:
Description
A steep earth bank rises in the foreground, on the left edge, from behind which the Greta rushes along a rocky bed, to run into the broader, calmer river Tees in the bottom right corner. In the middle distance, in the centre three tall trees tower over a patch of open grass, on which a cow can be seen standing in the sunlight. The white facade of Rokeby Hall can be seen between the trees; Ruskin noted that it belonged to John Morritt, whom he described as a friend of Walter Scott's.
Turner appears to have been working on this drawing during a trip to Yorkshire in 1816: a rapid pencil sketch of the composition appears in one of the sketchbooks he used on that trip, and another rough sketch of the composition is also known. The composition was also engraved, by J. Pye, for T. D. Whitaker's "The History of Richmondshire, in the North Riding of Yorkshire", 1823. Turner made all the drawings to be engraved for this volume in 1817-18.
The drawing was placed in the Teaching Collection from the very beginning, being listed as no. 2 in the Standard Series in the "Catalogue of Examples" of 1870. Ruskin rated this drawing very highly, calling it 'A faultless example of Turner's work at the time when it is most exemplary' (Catalogue of Examples), 'my best' (Readings in 'Modern Painters', § 20 = XXII.514) and 'my best of all' (Notes on his Turner Drawings, under no. 28 = XIII.431). Consequently, he had much to say about it. In the first editions of the catalogue of the Rudimentary Series, he noted that it had cost him 500 guineas (3rd and 4th editions, pp. 1-2). Visiting the site of the picture on 5 May 1876, he was struck by Turner's accuracy (XXIV. xxxi).
Discussing the drawing of Bolton Abbey in his "Notes on his Turner Drawings" (no. 44 = XIII.444), Ruskin noted that, fine as "Bolton Abbey" was, he was more sorry to have given this drawing to the University, embodying as it did the sincerity of Turner's reverence for the landscape. Turner's perfect sincerity rendered the art (and hence a degree of coldness) invisible (Readings in 'Modern Painters', § 20 = XXII.514). He considered the accumulation of closely-observed detail in the foreground rocks very characteristic of Turner's foregrounds (Modern Painters, Vol. 1, pt ii, sec. 4, ch. 4, §§ 26-7 = III.490).
In more abstract terms, the drawing both indicated the quality of the lost drawing of "Brignal Banks" (see Standard Series no. 1), and represented the ideal English landscape that had been lost, and would have to be recreated for the nation to survive (Lectures on Art, § 25 = XX.37-38). In "The Eagle's Nest" (§§ 69-71 = XXII.172-173), the drawing exemplified temperance and modesty in subject and execution, which Ruskin compared to the popular taste for highly-coloured and dramatic chromolithographs: a 'strong man' would like the Turner, a 'weak' one the sensational chromolithographs. It embodied 'aidōs' (αιδως), Ruskin's preferred term for 'admiration', 'the various feelings of wonder, reverence, awe, and humility, which are needful for all lovely work, and which constitute the habitual temper of all noble and clear-sighted persons'. (For 'aidōs', see Fors Clavigera, letter 9, § 12 = XXVII.156-157).
Technically, the drawing exemplified the method of shading - from the colours in the shadows up to the palest highlights - which Ruskin considered the most effective for work in colour (Lectures on Art, § 170 = XX.163); whilst the light on the rapids was obtained by subtly varying the weight of the wash as it was laid, one of the techniques of which a good painter was capable (Catalogue of Examples, p. 39). In his catalogue entry for the drawing, Ruskin drew particular attention to the painting of the fall of light on the surface of the Tees and through the thicket above the Greta, and to the drawing of the rocks and stones.
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Details
- Artist/maker
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Turner (Joseph Mallord William Turner) (1775 - 1851)
- Object type
- drawing
- Material and technique
- watercolour over graphite, with scratching out and use of the brush handle, on wove paper
- Associated place
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- Europe › United Kingdom › England › Durham › County Durham District › Greta Bridge › Greta Bridge (subject)
- Europe › United Kingdom › England › North Yorkshire › Rokeby › Rokeby Hall › Rokeby Hall (subject)
- Europe › United Kingdom › England › River Tees › River Tees (subject)
- Provenance
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J. Dillon (Christie's sale, 7 and 9 June 1856, lot 141)
- No. of items
- 1
- Accession no.
- WA.RS.STD.002
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Subject terms allocated by curators:
Subjects
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References in which this object is cited include:
References
Wilton, Andrew, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner (London: Academy Editions, 1979), no. 566
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of Examples Arranged for Elementary Study in the University Galleries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1870), cat. Standard no. 2
Herrmann, Luke, Ruskin and Turner: A Study of Ruskin as a Collector of Turner, Based on His Gifts to the University of Oxford: Incorporating a Catalogue Raisonné of the Turner Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum (London: Faber & Faber, 1968), no. 79
Herrmann, Luke, and Colin Harrison, J. M. W. Turner, Ashmolean Museum Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 20
Ruskin, John, Instructions in Practice of Elementary Drawing, Arranged with Reference to the First Series of Examples in the Drawings Schools of the University of Oxford (n.p., [1872])
Ruskin, John, Instructions in the Preliminary Exercises Arranged for the Lower Drawing-School (London: Smith, Elder, 1872)
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Reference Series Including Temporarily the First Section of the Standard Series (London: Smith, Elder, [1872]), cat. Standard no. 2
Ruskin, John, ‘The Works of John Ruskin’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912)
Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21, cat. Standard no. 2, pl. XXV, f.p. 11
Ruskin, John, ‘The Eagle's Nest: Ten Lectures on the Relation of Natural Science to Art, Given Before the University of Oxfored, in Lent Term, 1872’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 22
Ruskin, John, ‘Final Lectures at Oxford (1884)’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 33
Ruskin, John, ‘Lectures on Art: Delivered Before the University of Oxford in Hilary Term, 1870’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 20
Ruskin, John, ‘Lectures on Landscape: Delivered at Oxford in Lent Term, 1871’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 22
Ruskin, John, ‘Modern Painters’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 3-7
Ruskin, John, ‘Notes By Mr. Ruskin ... on His Drawings by the Late J. M. W. Turner, R. A., [and] on His Own Handiwork Illustrative of Turner’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 13, cat. under nos 28 & 44 = XIII.431 & 444
Ruskin, John, ‘Notes for the Lectures Called ..... "Readings in 'Modern Painters""'’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin': Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 22
Location
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- Western Art Print Room
Position in Ruskin’s Collection
Ruskin's Catalogues
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Ruskin's Catalogue of Examples (1870)
2. The Junction of the Greta and Tees at Rokeby.A faultless example of Turner’s work at the time when it is most exemplary. It will serve us for various illustrations as we advance in the study of landscape, but it may be well to note of it at once, that in the painting of the light falling on the surface of the Tees, and shining through the thicket above the Greta, it is an unrivalled example of chiaroscuro of the most subtle kind;—obtained by the slightest possible contrasts, and by consummate skill in the management of gradation. The rock and stone drawing is not less wonderful, and entirely good as a lesson in practice.
The house seen through the trees is Mr. Merritt’s; (Scott’s friend). The grounds belonged to a dear friend, with whom I had lived in habits of intimacy many years, and the place itself united the romantic beauties of the wilds of Scotland with the rich and smiling aspect of the southern portion of the island. —( Introduction to Rokeby.)
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Ruskin's Standard & Reference series (1872)
2. The junction of the Greta and Tees at Rokeby.A faultless example of Turner’s work at the time when it is most exemplary. It will serve us for various illustrations as we advance in the study of landscape, but it may be well to note of it at once, that in the painting of the light falling on the surface of the Tees, and shining through the thicket above the Greta, it is an unrivalled example of chiaroscuro of the most subtle kind;—obtained by the slightest possible contrasts, and by consummate skill in the management of gradation. The rock and stone drawing is not less wonderful, and entirely good as a lesson in practice.
The house seen through the trees is Mr. Morritt’s; (Scott’s friend). The grounds belonged to a dear friend, with whom I had lived in habits of intimacy many years, and the place itself united the romantic beauties of the wilds of Scotland with the rich and smiling aspect of the southern portion of the island. —( Introduction to Rokeby.)
