Marriage of Male and Female, Shadow and Light
So, here we are, 178 years later, finally discovering what Turner saw in the morning sunrise...
Some very male artists in very male cultures seek the ephemeral as a way to consummate the male and female spirit within
'Norham Castle, Sunrise', Joseph Mallord William Turner, c.1845 marriage of light and life, spirit and object are both consummated
Norham Castle, Sunrise : ..Joseph Mallord William Turner 1845
The light blue to navy ruins of Norham Castle draw our attention through the narrowing path of the river. The blinding, diffused light of the first rays of sun in the central position and its’ layered swirls of colors, are reflected in the river. The golden mist (called golden fluid by some scholars), spreads across the sky and the river, merging with the blues that predominate and define the background of the landscape. Misty hills and riverbanks are joined together by the morning light but are still recognizable as separate parts of the scene. In the foreground, cattle wander into the river from the shore, barely visible in the grasses. Two of them are suggested by a mere smudge of darker color on the right side of the painting, with one, drinking peacefully in the river produce a bucolic scene. via
Norham Castle sits in the northeast corner of England, directly on the border with Scotland. The countryside and coastline are mountainous, rugged and wild with one of the coldest climates in the country. The castle sits on the banks of the River Tweed and for 450 years, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, was part of the defense system that existed between Scotland and England. The Tweed fords were an easy crossing point into England and the attacks and defense between the two countries were fierce and violent through the times of Henry II, King John and Elizabeth, who finally refused to put any more money into the castle’s maintenance and it fell into disrepair by the early 1600’s.
Turner experimented in playing with his colors as “the first watercolorist, starting around 1815 to exploit the mediums' resources for wet in wet effects-using the wet paper to float and mingle large areas of color, then blotting and scraping to shape lights and outlines. This range of techniques with the layering of glazes…the transparent color, washed over a previous dry layer of water color paint he applied…., gave him an unparalleled ability to describe the effect of atmosphere and light.
Norham Castle on the Tweed, Summer’s Morn (c. 1798) Original first shown at the Royal Academy in 1798
A 22 year old Turner exhibited his first watercolor of Norham Castle at the Royal Academy in 1798. Another went into a private collection. Poetry as description, was associated with romantic imagery, and Turner attached a few lines from a poem by James Thomson, The Seasons, describing …”kindling azure, fluid gold”. There is a light wash of color that produces layers underneath the whole painting, of colored washes visible in both sky and the water, using light and shade techniques,(chiaroscuro) seen in the mid-section below the castle..
By stopping out (covering) the windows of the castle when he painted the darker parts of the building, the rising sun is seen, glinting through the ruins of the castle tower. The cottage and cattle in the foreground are realistically presented as in his topographical work. The morning mists are prominent in the valley below the castle. Turner revisited the ruins in 1801.
Turner made three new sketches of Norham Castle on a subsequent trip with Robert Cadell, whose diary indicates that the two of them passed the castle on August 10, 1831 as they traveled from Kelso Abbey to Berwick. The sequence of the sketches from west to east follows the coach route as it went past the castle on the way to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Norham Castle at Sunrise 1930 sketch - This unfinished beginning is a clear demonstration of the layering and overlapping and actual messy process that Turner went through to find the composition and the coloring that he was looking for. via
.Light and Life, where Spirit meets Life
By the end of his career, Turner had created six different versions of this painting, returning to Norham Castle multiple times to reflect on
his work and life.
dr. π (pi)
.
Some very male artists in very male cultures seek the ephemeral as a way to consummate the male and female spirit within
'Norham Castle, Sunrise', Joseph Mallord William Turner, c.1845 marriage of light and life, spirit and object are both consummated
Norham Castle, Sunrise : ..Joseph Mallord William Turner 1845
The light blue to navy ruins of Norham Castle draw our attention through the narrowing path of the river. The blinding, diffused light of the first rays of sun in the central position and its’ layered swirls of colors, are reflected in the river. The golden mist (called golden fluid by some scholars), spreads across the sky and the river, merging with the blues that predominate and define the background of the landscape. Misty hills and riverbanks are joined together by the morning light but are still recognizable as separate parts of the scene. In the foreground, cattle wander into the river from the shore, barely visible in the grasses. Two of them are suggested by a mere smudge of darker color on the right side of the painting, with one, drinking peacefully in the river produce a bucolic scene. via
Norham Castle sits in the northeast corner of England, directly on the border with Scotland. The countryside and coastline are mountainous, rugged and wild with one of the coldest climates in the country. The castle sits on the banks of the River Tweed and for 450 years, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, was part of the defense system that existed between Scotland and England. The Tweed fords were an easy crossing point into England and the attacks and defense between the two countries were fierce and violent through the times of Henry II, King John and Elizabeth, who finally refused to put any more money into the castle’s maintenance and it fell into disrepair by the early 1600’s.
Turner experimented in playing with his colors as “the first watercolorist, starting around 1815 to exploit the mediums' resources for wet in wet effects-using the wet paper to float and mingle large areas of color, then blotting and scraping to shape lights and outlines. This range of techniques with the layering of glazes…the transparent color, washed over a previous dry layer of water color paint he applied…., gave him an unparalleled ability to describe the effect of atmosphere and light.
Norham Castle on the Tweed, Summer’s Morn (c. 1798) Original first shown at the Royal Academy in 1798
A 22 year old Turner exhibited his first watercolor of Norham Castle at the Royal Academy in 1798. Another went into a private collection. Poetry as description, was associated with romantic imagery, and Turner attached a few lines from a poem by James Thomson, The Seasons, describing …”kindling azure, fluid gold”. There is a light wash of color that produces layers underneath the whole painting, of colored washes visible in both sky and the water, using light and shade techniques,(chiaroscuro) seen in the mid-section below the castle..
By stopping out (covering) the windows of the castle when he painted the darker parts of the building, the rising sun is seen, glinting through the ruins of the castle tower. The cottage and cattle in the foreground are realistically presented as in his topographical work. The morning mists are prominent in the valley below the castle. Turner revisited the ruins in 1801.
Turner made three new sketches of Norham Castle on a subsequent trip with Robert Cadell, whose diary indicates that the two of them passed the castle on August 10, 1831 as they traveled from Kelso Abbey to Berwick. The sequence of the sketches from west to east follows the coach route as it went past the castle on the way to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Norham Castle at Sunrise 1930 sketch - This unfinished beginning is a clear demonstration of the layering and overlapping and actual messy process that Turner went through to find the composition and the coloring that he was looking for. via
.Light and Life, where Spirit meets Life
By the end of his career, Turner had created six different versions of this painting, returning to Norham Castle multiple times to reflect on
his work and life.
dr. π (pi)
.