Turner sketch that was cut out and glued sold for £26,000
AN ORIGINAL sketch by JMW Turner, which was ripped out of the great English Romantic painter’s sketch book and glued down on a piece of card, has sold for £26,500.
The Castle at Tancarville, Normandy dates from 1832 and shows a ruined castle overlooking the Seine with a group of people in the foreground.
It is thought to be one of five sketches Turner made at the site of the French castle that informed the larger watercolour Tancarville on the Seine, which was painted in 1839 and is now in the Tate collection.
The sketch, which measures 6.5in by 5.5in and is on blue paper, is inscribed with Turner’s name on the back.
The vendor’s father was a Harley Street eye surgeon who purchased the sketch from a gallery in the Fifties.
At some point before he acquired the sketch, it was cut from one of Turner’s sketch books then glued down on to card. The sketch has been authenticated by Gerald Agnew, the eminent art dealer, and subsequently by two major London auction rooms.
It sparked fervent bidding and achieved a hammer price of £22,000, with extra fees taking the overall figure, paid by a private collector from outside Europe, to £26,500.
Philip Allwood, a senior auctioneer at Moore Allen & Innocent, of Cirencester, Gloucs, who sold the sketch, said: “It’s a dreamy little watercolour which very much influenced his watercolour Tancarville on the Seine. The piece appears to have been cut from a sketch book with edges in places trimmed, though down the left hand side rather roughly, then glued down onto card.
“It appears this removal and gluing down happened some time ago judging from the newspaper beneath the tape and the discolouration to the card.
“While it is never ideal for a sketch to be removed from a sketch book and stuck on card, I don’t believe it made a particularly huge difference to its value.”
Turner (1775-1851) is known as “the painter of light” because of his interest in brilliant colours, although this sketch captures a more sombre landscape. The majority of his paintings are now at Tate Britain.
The Turner Prize, which was named in the artist’s honour, is awarded annually to a visual artist born, living or working in Britain.