Engraved by Wallis after Turner. ( England and Wales. Rawlinson 282. Wilton 858.) Rawlinson considers the engraving 'one of the most deeply poetical of Turner's Works'.
Ruskin observes that the engraver has been guilty of 'making out' areas of the drawing which Turner left incomplete - a practice which he always deplored ( MP I:169). The original watercolour was at some time in Ruskin's collection ( Works, 13.599), and in a letter to his father of 29 December 1851 he points out that the painting of the distant castle, 'all blots', is 'a sure sign that Turner was satisfied' with his colouring' ( Works, 13.xxv). In the Lectures on Landscape of 1871, Ruskin argues that the picture shows Turner's awareness of 'the two sorts of cloud and fire' - in this case the 'cloud and flame of the dragon' of industrialisation ( Works, 22.64). In the notes on the 1878 exhibition of works from his own collection by Turner, Ruskin comments that the picture demonstrates Turner's 'full understanding of what England was to become', and that it is admirable as 'an example of rapid execution' ( Works, 13.435-36).
J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851
Dudley, Worcestershire c.1832
Watercolour and body-colour, 28.8x43cm
Exhibitions: MBG 1833; RA 1974 (426)
Engraving:
Engraved by R. Wallis, 1835
Copper engraving, 16.2x23.8cm
Engraved for the England and Wales series
Provenance: Charles Heath, 1833; John Ruskin, 1878; Sir George Drummond, Montreal, Sale Christie's 26/6/1919 (131), bt. Gooden & Fox; Lord Leverhulme
Further Comments: Studies made at Dudley in 1830 occur in the 'Kenilworth' and 'Birmingham and Coventry' sketchbooks.
Collection: Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Cheshire, UK
For a reproduction of this artistic work, please consult: Shanes, Eric, Turner's Picturesque Views in England and Wales, (Chatto & Windus, 1979), p.43/pl.66