Engraved by Henshall after Turner. ( England and Wales. Rawlinson 245. Wilton 821.) Rawlinson refers to the 'poor engraving of this plate'.
Like Rawlinson, Ruskin thought the engraving a poor representation of the watercolour ( MP I:257). The original watercolour was in Ruskin's collection ( Works, 13.606), given to him on his 21st birthday. Although he was disappointed by it, he recalled that it was 'the chief recreation of my fatigued hours' at Oxford ( Works, 35.255-56). In his pamphlet PreRaphaelitism (1851) Ruskin discusses the picture in connection with Turner's tendency to develop a composition from a sketch made many years earlier, retaining particular incidents from that early impression ( Works, 12.384). He discusses the fine drawing of the black sky in the watercolour in a letter to his father of 29 December 1851 ( Works, 13.xxv). But in the notes on the 1878 exhibition of Works from his own collection by Turner, Ruskin comments that although in his younger days 'I loved storm, and dark weather, and soldiers', now he seeks 'blue sky, pure air, and peace' ( Works, 13.437-38). He refers to the Winchelsea in his second 'Storm Cloud' lecture (11 February 1884) as an example of 'sudden and extreme local blackness of thundercloud' ( Works, 34.52).
J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851
Winchelsea, Sussex, Soldiers on the March c.1828
Watercolour and body-colour with pencil and some scraping-out, 29.3x42.5cm
Exhibitions: MBG 1833
Engraving:
Engraved by J. Henshall, 1830
Copper engraving, 16.4x23.2cm
Engraved for the England and Wales series
Provenance: Thomas Griffith; John Ruskin; Agnew by 1913; R.W. Lloyd who bequeathed it to the British Museum in 1958
Further Comments: A number of drawings of Winchelsea appear in the 'Hastings to Margate' sketchbook, c.1815. The 'Winchelsea' from Ruskin's collection was a present from his father in 1840.
Collection: British Museum, London (Trustees)
For a reproduction of this artistic work, please consult: Shanes, Eric, Turner's Picturesque Views in England and Wales, (Chatto & Windus, 1979), p.32/pl.34