Ludlow Castle

Turner considered large, finished watercolors like this one comparable to oil paintings, both in their scale and in the amount of labor required to produce them. Instead of broad, quickly applied strokes, he has built up layers of transparent washes to create a rich, warm glow. The castle, looming over the valley, is silhouetted against a golden sky, with its grounds bathed in soft blue shadow. Though Ludlow Castle is based on a sketch of the castle the artist made on the spot, the drawing is less a response to the specific landscape and atmospheric conditions he experienced than it is a learned reference to past art. With its high, distant viewpoint and gentle, even light, it recalls the timeless, classicizing landscapes of seventeenth century French painters (2022).